My Jolly Sailor Bold
by MissAnnalise
Summary: A story of an underrated character, Scrum.  I know I divert from the actual plot of On Stranger Tides, but I wanted to give the characters a little more time together; so if you wanna moan about it, there is reason behind it.  Enjoy guys!
1. Attack On Whitecap Bay

"Lord save me," Scrum murmured. The mermaid stared intently at the men in the longboat.

"Men, look! Look there!" Philip elbowed his surrounding pirates. The men remained silent, not wanting to frighten the beautiful thing away, but she seemed drawn to the boats. Like a deer slowly approaching a human, she was careful in her strokes. All remained silent until the girl smirked so beautifully that Scrum himself almost fell from the boat. Her teeth were straight, and pearly white and her lips parted perfectly. The golden hair flowed behind her in the water. Ezekiel pulled a knife from his belt, yelling incoherently at the beautiful creature. "You're scaring her off!" Philip cried, as some of the men pulled Ezekiel back by his shirtsleeves and collar, urging him to calm down. The mermaid had retreated from the boat, anxiety swept across her face.

Scrum moved for a closer look, "can you talk?" He asked.

"Yes." She responded, drifting back to the boat and putting her arms onto the edge, smiling. Scrum continued to stare at her, but she glanced at Ezekiel - who was now too calmly gazing at her, before turning back to Scrum.

"You're beautiful." He told her, smiling weakly, completely captivated by her fixed stare.

"Are you the one who sings?" She asked, leaning her head onto her arm dreamily, not once taking her eyes off of Scrum, who's breathing had decreased significantly.

"Aye."

"Are you my jolly sailor bold?"

Scrum blushed, and laughed nervously, not noticing that everybody in the longboat was now staring cautiously at the two of them. "Aye, that I be."

"Scrum, comport yourself!" Philip cried, as the men restrained him from the mermaid, who had leaned closer, swishing her tail under the water.

"Boys!" Scrum struggled against his comrades, "there ain't much been given to me in my brief, miserable life, there's a truth in it. But by God, I'll have it said that Scrum had himself a kiss from a proper mermaid!"

Wrenching himself free, he again gazed at the mermaid who had begun to sing. "My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold, there is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold." Scrum felt himself losing all grip on reality. As she sang, more mermaids appeared and began to float towards the men, surfacing one by one staring at each pirate. "My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold." The mermaid placed her arms around Scrum's face, though about to kiss him. "There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold." She descended underwater, Scrum's face still in her hands. He opened his eyes as he felt his head submerged into the mildly warm water, the young and beautiful mermaid's face was contorted with rage, and she bared her fangs at him. Scrum yelled, and struggled free of her grip. Rubbing the water from his eyes, he saw that the other mermaids had launched an attack. It was carnage. Men on shore ran into the water with a giant net as the mermaids began to tear at the boat, grabbing at the men inside it. Pirates were throwing gunpowder barrels into the water.

"Retreat, all! To land! For your lives! Retreat, I say!" cried Captain Jack Sparrow as he ran towards the lighthouse on the shore. Scrum began towards the shore himself, hearing a loud explosion as Jack threw the whale oil. Mermaids, dozens of them, swam after him, though they were only interested in making it onto the beach themselves. Coming to his senses, and wishing for his moment of pride, Scrum grabbed hold of the first mermaid he glimpsed, gripping the floating net and entangling her. "I've got one!" He cried to the pirates on shore, dragging her from the shallow seawater. Thrashing viciously, the mermaid hissed before screeching in pain as Philip stabbed her fin with his dagger. "Oi! What are you doing?" Cried Scrum giving Philip a firm shove.

"Come, give a hand!" Blackbeard called to the other survivors, "well done, sailor." He acknowledged Scrum, who felt faint from exhaustion.

"I'm in love!" Scrum said before toppling onto the ground. Jack appeared from sea, crawling up the beach unsteadily, much to Angelica's delight. "Did everyone see that? Because I will NOT be doing that again!"

"Back to the ship," Blackbeard ordered as the men carried the net with the hissing, struggling mermaid trapped inside, "we head for a protected cove. Now."


	2. Tamara

On the ship, Blackbeard's zombie warriors had brought out the large glass container designed to keep the mermaid. It had been filled with seawater, and they threw her into it from the net, slamming the lid down before she could make another escape.

From there, they carried her back to land, leaving the ship anchored and into the jungle. Scrum stared at the beautiful young mermaid who had tried to kiss him, or kill him, but he had convinced himself that it had been the former. She was truly breathtaking, even as she thrashed around angrily in the container.

They trekked through the jungle for a good fifteen minutes before Blackbeard and Angelica decided to rest; it was growing dark, and therefore dangerous. "Men, we lay here for tonight. I want you to watch that thing, make sure she doesn't escape." He ordered Scrum, who happily obliged. The zombies lay down the container and left her there. Scrum, Jack, Philip and Ezekiel remained behind, Jack leaning against the glass container in which the mermaid struggled.

Scrum looked at the girl helplessly, watching her gasping in the container, which had now become misty with the heat from inside. "She can breathe, can't she?" Scrum became concerned for the pitiful girl, who was banging the roof of the container. Jack shrugged, "not entirely sure, why don't we ask?" Scrum gulped as Jack unlodged and moved the glass container lid slightly. The mermaid arched her back, gasping for air. Her wet hair floated gracefully in the water underneath her. "What are you doing? She'll escape!" Angelica called from underneath the tree, which she had laid down by to rest.

"All under control, she's going nowhere, are you love?" Jack said. The mermaid hissed at him quietly, not aggressive enough to seem threatening. Philip was looking at her side-on, his jaw had dropped slightly, "beautiful, aren't they?" Jack said, noticing the staring missionary. Philip nodded, tearing his eyes away, embarrassed, "are you sure it's a good idea to take the lid-"

"I'm not going anywhere." The mermaid spoke at last, glaring; her accent had a twinge to it, not English, yet not entirely foreign. It was haunting and beautiful. Her arms lay either side of the container where she leaned backwards, her hair covering her bare chest.

"So, you can talk." Jack raised his eyebrows, "what a sweet little voice you have." The girl glared at him. "Does one as lovely as yourself have a name?"

"Tamara."

"My, that is a pretty name." Tamara hissed at him again, warningly.

"Is she hungry?" Philip asked awkwardly. The mermaid beamed at him flirtatiously, leaving Scrum with a downtrodden feeling in his stomach. The two men he stood with were lean and handsome, she had not once taken a look at him.

"Are you hungry, darling?" Jack bent down slightly, bringing his face level with hers "a little something to satisfy you as men aren't on the menu tonight, I'm afraid. Unless of course, you make a special request. How does that work exactly? Can you, well…"

Tamara glared intensely at him before spitting directly in Jack's face, her own contorted with anger. Scrum stifled a laugh as Jack wiped his face, bemused at her anger. "Fiery thing, aren't you lovey...Right, you," he stood, taking Philip by the arm, "let's find missy here a midnight snack before she wastes away completely. Scrummy, make sure she stays put, don't give into her pretty eyes."

Philip glanced back at Tamara as Jack led him into the jungle and for the first time, Scrum was alone with the mermaid he had caught. He was afraid of her, but intrigued too and unsure of whether to make conversation.

"You, you're the one who grabbed me." She said calmly, without looking at him. She looked relaxed in the container now, leaning against the back of it, arms on either side.

"You grabbed me first." Scrum replied. Tamara turned her head to him, refraining from a smile. He had never seen something so beautiful in all his life, what he wouldn't have done for that kiss. It felt as though an arrow had been shot through his chest when he looked at her.

"Why did you not go to find food for me?" She enquired, adjusting herself in the container so that she could look and speak properly to Scrum.

"I would have gone."

"You should have insisted. He sent that handsome one along with him, you should have gone."

Scrum looked at the floor, downtrodden by her comments. "Well the handsome one got there first."

"I wanted you to go."

"I understand." He said, still staring hard at the floor.

"It is you who owes me, you caught me; you should be the one to serve me." Scrum lifted his head at once, "I'm confused."

"I do not wish to take food from that drunkard," Scrum assumed she was referring to Jack, "nor that handsome young prude. They owe me nothing, and I do not trust them."

"Do you trust me?" Scrum's stomach had lifted, he felt in heaven once more.

"No."

There was a pause; Scrum could feel Tamara's eyes on him. "What is your name, sailor?"

"Scrum." He replied nervously.

"How…Cheery." Her voice was disdainful, "would you still like that kiss, Scrum?"

His head jolted up, he stared at her, "really?" He knew that his tone was far too excited, but she was now leaning over the side of the container, biting her lower lip. "Come here," she reached out to him, taking hold of his shirt collar, bringing his head slowly towards her. Scrum's stomach was doing flips, a kiss from a proper mermaid at last. It felt as though all of his dreams had come true as her hand gently clasped the back of his neck. Scrum readied himself for the moment her lips would touch his own, but instead, he felt her cheek pressing against his. "You'll have to make up for capturing me first." She whispered into his ear. He wanted to get hold of her face and kiss her there and then, he wanted to pull her into him so desperately, but he felt incapable of moving. Tamara let go of Scrum's shirt, and as she leant back into her container, she bit down hard on her lower lip, resisting laughter.

He could hardly breathe, she had made him feel as though he were about to lose control, and go insane altogether. Yet Scrum felt disappointed as he saw Jack and Philip emerge from the forest, clutching handfuls of fruit. "All yours, my love." Jack said, handing her a large mango. Tamara bit into it after examining that it was sufficiently un-poisonous.

"So we're feeding the thing now?" Angelica approached the mermaids glass container.

"Starving me isn't going to hurt enough to bring tears, pirate." Tamara glared at her.

"Listen to me, mermaid," Angelica closed in on Tamara, "you are ours to do with whatever we like." She snatched the mango from Tamara's loose grip and wandered back through the thick plantation of the jungle. Tamara stared angrily at her as she walked away.

"Woah, woah, woah," Jack fought against Tamara, who had tried to jump from the glass chest and was baring her fangs at the back of Angelica's head. It took all of Scrum, Jack, Ezekiel and Philip's strength to hold her back and calm her. "That's not the way to be saving yourself, darling." Jack warned.

"Let go of my arm." She ordered, shoving him away. Scrum stared at her, trying not to smile at her somewhat endearing outburst; looking away quickly as she caught his eye.

"Let me sleep," she told them, still looking at Scrum, "I'm exhausted. Leave me be til morning."

"And then what?" Scrum asked sheepishly.

"And then I'm all yours."


	3. Suggestions

"Stop staring at me." Tamara's eyes were closed as she addressed Scrum and Jack, who had been standing as close to her container as they felt comfortable. Blackbeard's henchmen stood close watch underneath an ancient-looking tree a few metres away. They made Scrum uncomfortable; they were hostile and looked terrifying, and Tamara disliked them just as much.

Jack nodded his head to the right, taking Scrum by the arm and pulling him aside. "We don't want her getting upset at us again, she's not the most pleasant of creatures to be around when she's like that."

'And you would know?' Scrum thought, but he nodded in agreement. "When – I mean _if _they get a tear from her, what will they do with her after?"

"Knowing Blackbeard, he'll either keep her or kill her."

"Keep her for what?" Scrum asked, concerned.

"Mermaids come in useful," Angelica interrupted, approaching the men, "there can be a lot of advantages in keeping a mermaid. But, if they do not wish to comply, that becomes a problem."

"And that one there isn't particularly compliant." Jack added. Scrum turned to look at her, resting in the glass box. She looked peaceful where she was, the moonlight only enhanced her glow; she almost shimmered. He sighed, and Jack turned to Angelica, giving her a knowing look. "Oh dear." He said.

"What?" Scrum said, flustered. The two of him were looking at him, Angelica with her lips pursed, Jack with his eyebrows raised. "Nothing."

"I need to speak with you." Angelica told Jack, leading him away.

Scrum sighed, glued to the spot and irritated at what the other two had implied. He didn't want Tamara to think that he was clinging to her, and he certainly didn't want her to use him as a target for…well, anything. He wished that he had the willpower to keep away from her for more than five minutes. Turning back to where the glass box stood a few metres away, Scrum noticed Philip now leaning over it. Tamara was awake, and was smiling at him; they were talking. 'Leave it,' Scrum told himself 'she's a mermaid, just leave it, it means nothing.'

But his feet carried him to Tamara anyway. "Such beauty," Philip was saying to her, "surely you are one of God's own creations and not a descendant of those dark creatures that never found refuge on the Ark. Such beauty. Yet deadly."

Tamara was gazing at the missionary in wonder. Scrum wanted to pull him away from her, who did he think he was to muscle in on Scrum's mermaid? And calling her beautiful too! A surge of jealousy ran through Scrum's veins. "Deadly, no." Tamara replied, glaring at Scrum when she heard him scoff a laugh. Philip was also looking at him; there was a moment's pause before Philip left of into the jungle.

"You scared him away." Tamara said to Scrum, who was glancing nervously at her.

'Good.' Scrum thought to himself, but he said nothing. "Come here," Tamara beckoned at him, and he obeyed, "why do you wear this?" She said, causing his heart to almost stop as she put her fingers underneath and scooped at the shark tooth on his necklace.

"It's lucky." He told her, straightening himself up, "I found it in Antigua."

"I see." She said, "and why is it lucky?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly, "I just like to think it is." He was pleased to see Tamara smile. Scrum examined her, as she looked at his necklace more closely. The concentration in her face was adorable; he noticed that she was actually rather small in stature, and that her shoulder blades and collarbone protruded slightly. Her hands were small too, but elegant, attached to thin wrists.

She lifted her head slightly, teasing again as though she wished to kiss him. Scrum looked down at her sincerely, "hammerhead." He pointed out. Tamara shook her head, "great white. Beautiful creatures."

"Not really."

Tamara pulled a face, "men don't understand true beauty." Scrum saw that as she pushed a lock of her wet hair behind her ear, there was a dimple on the lobe. "What's that?" He asked.

"What?" She said, placing a hand over her tiny ear, "oh, it's just there. I don't know what it is."

"Did he, uh, wake you up?"

"Mermaids do not sleep as humans do. We keep ourselves half awake, you see. But you, are you not exhausted?"

He was a little, well, completely exhausted, but something about her kept his eyes wide open. "I'd better find a place to sleep, actually." He said, turning his back on her.

"Wait," he turned around, "you can lean against this." Tamara patted the side of the container.

"I'm not having you eat me while I'm trying to sleep."

"I won't touch you, I promise." She said, pouting a little, "I don't want to be alone with them," she shifted a look at Blackbeard's zombie henchmen. Scrum grinned at her, "fair enough."

Jack and Angelica emerged from the trees. "Look at that." Jack pointed in the direction of the sleeping Scrum, and the mermaid who snoozed under the water in her container.

"My god," Angelica furrowed her brow, "it's rather sweet, if you think about it."

"Is it?" Jack glanced at her, and then back to Scrum and Tamara. He had his back leant up against the glass, closer to her than hardly any of the men had managed to be.

"Yes. It's what you call infatuation."


	4. The Wrong Side of the World

Scrum awoke the next morning dazed by the events of the previous evening. Looking up, he saw the blonde-haired mermaid wearing his pirate's hat. "Suits you." He told her, looking at Angelica and Jack who were some of the few awake, their heads close together; the two of them were laughing about something.

"Are they in love?" Tamara asked, leaning her arms on the side of her container, gazing at them dreamily.

"I think so."

"Hm. Are you married?"

"Me? No." Scrum turned to Tamara, "I hope not." Tamara smiled at him, taking the hat off of her head and handing it back to him. "It suits you more."

Blackbeard roused the others from their sleep, "the creature is awake, let's go. Up you all get, no time for dozing."

The ferocious zombies picked up the heavy container with ease, and Scrum headed in front alongside Jack and Philip. "Sleep well, Scrummy?" Jack nudged him.

"Alright, thanks."

"Kissed her properly yet?"

Scrum gave Jack a light shove, "lay off it mate." Jack grinned to himself, still exhausted from the night before. They trekked for nearly an hour through the vast jungle before they heard the enormous crash. One of Blackbeard's men had tripped, and the other three had toppled down too, bringing the container with the mermaid down to the ground. The glass shattered, all of the pirates stopped immediately.

Tamara's shimmering tail flapped on the ground a few times, before disappearing and transforming into a pair of human legs. Scrum stared at her in wonder, so that was what happened if you took a mermaid fully from water. She was covering herself, entirely naked now, shying away from the others. Philip approached her fast, and began to remove his shirt; but Scrum had thought too fast. He almost sprinted towards her; he had already taken off his coat due to the morning heat and wrapped it around the shivering girl.

Blackbeard was unphased by her sudden transformation, "you will walk." He told her. Tamara shot him a cold look, pushing herself up, using Scrum's shoulder as leverage. The poor girl could barely stand without tumbling back down to the ground. "I can't walk."

"Walk or die." Blackbeard said, ordering his crew to march onward. Philip re-buttoned his shirt, and held out a hand to Tamara, "come, I'll help you." She stared at the hand offered to her, "I can't."

Scrum seized the opportunity to swoop her up into his arms, she felt as light as a feather but began to struggle within seconds. "What are you doing?" She cried, "Put me down, _now_."

"Walk or die, remember? Stop struggling, make this a bit easier on me, I'm trying to help you."

Tamara eyed him angrily, before placing her arms around his neck, though Scrum barely felt that he could walk himself. She was so delicate; he was scared of dropping her no matter how light she was. He felt her lean into his chest. "You have a fast heartbeat." She stated.

"All humans do." He tried to cover for himself.

"No they don't. He doesn't." She nodded in Philip's direction, who was now walking in front of them. Scrum was smug that the young missionary hadn't claimed his prize.

"How do you know that?"  
>"That is none of your business."<p>

"I see." He felt like dropping her then; until he felt her breath on his neck tickling slightly. Scrum took a deep breath, mentally slapping himself back into reality. "Scrum," she whispered, making him stop in his tracks for a second. "What?"

"Thank you for this…thing."

"Coat." He enlightened her, as she plucked at the sleeve of it before hoisting her up slightly so that she could regain her hold around his neck. He felt her eyes burning him, and promised himself not to look into them, for he would have surely been unable to resist the temptation of kissing her, and becoming her bait. "If it weren't for this," she said, leaning her head closer to him, "I would be completely naked." She whispered the word 'naked' as though it were a secret.

"Stop it." Scrum warned her; but she giggled, taking his hat off of his head again and wearing it herself. "Now I am you."

"Nah, you aren't as pretty."

She nudged him playfully, "you said that I was beautiful. Of course, that was before you captured me. I guessed you were lying."

"I wasn't lying." He reassured her. Tamara reared her neck up so that her lips reached his ear, "I know that," she said, "but they don't know," she nodded in the direction of Jack, Angelica and Blackbeard "that we're on the wrong side of the world."

This time, Scrum really did drop her. "Ow!" Tamara cried, causing the others to stop dead in front of them. "What is it?" Angelica approached them, pushing her way through the others.

"You're in the wrong place." Tamara said clutching the arm she had landed on, the coat hung loosely over her shoulders.

"What do you mean the wrong place?" Angelica bent down to the mermaids level, clasping her face with her hands.

"You thought that the fountain was here, in the Caribbean seas?" Tamara smirked at the beautiful Hispanic woman whose hands felt cool on each cheek. "No," Tamara said, "it is so far from here you cannot imagine."

"I'm sure we can." Blackbeard intervened, removing a sword from his belt, pointing it directly at Tamara. "Where be it if not here? Read this map, mermaid, read what it says." He threw the stained parchment at her for her to look at, and Angelica removed her hands from the mermaid's pretty head. She took a glance and laughed, "you will need to go back across the Atlantic. Or you may keep going, but you won't find it here. You need to near the seas of China, the North Pacific. This here, it is a replica." She threw the parchment back at Blackbeard bitterly, who then turned on Jack. "This be true, Jack?"

"I didn't, I don't…I haven't got a clue, she could be right; there are tales of it being so."

Blackbeard let out a wild yell that echoed off of the close-knit trees. "If I find ye have been lying mermaid, I'll drip dry you, I'll cut you apart piece by piece, and your little hero here, do you understand?" He pointed his blade at Scrum, who gulped.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked Tamara, fearful of Blackbeard's threat. Blackbeard meant his threats, always.

Blackbeard had bent down, as his daughter had done, to Tamara's level. She was looking him dead in the eye, no sign of fear crossed her face; she remained tough, "China." She reinforced, "What you'll find here is merely a pool, and a pretty waterfall, and you will have wasted all that I can give to you. China is where you must head. Neptune's last voyage was in the Pacific; that is where you will find the Fountain of Youth. My word is true."

Blackbeard glared at her and took her roughly by the scruff of her neck, dragging her up by her hair. Tamara barely made a sound as she was shoved into the trunk of the tree by which she had been dropped. Blackbeard held his sword up to Tamara's face; but she did not flinch. Blackbeard pushed her face hard, so that the rough tree bark began to dig into her skin, "be it the truth, mermaid?" he hissed at her, gripping harder at her damp, golden hair. Scrum stared on in a mixture of fury and panic; if he intervened now, there was no way Blackbeard would let him live.  
>"Not a lie passes my lips, Captain." She said quietly, not an ounce of panic in her tone. Blackbeard forced her around, and looked at her for a moment; the silence was tense. "So beautiful," Blackbeard murmured to Tamara, who clenched her jaw in anger. The pirates, each of them, including Jack, gasped when Blackbeard dropped his sword to slap her hard across the face with the back of his hand. Scrum watched helplessly; he desperately wished that he could stop the Captain and rescue Tamara from his clutches.<p>

Blackbeard beat her incessantly, raining down hard punches and kicks, but not a sound could be heard from her; she merely clutched onto the coat, so determined to cover her nakedness. Blackbeard only became more aggravated, when he realise that his force did not cause her pain and began to beat her harder. This time, Tamara cried out.

"Father, stop it," Angelica told him, but he did not desist, "father, stop it, you're hurting her."  
>"She does not feel hurt." He said, kicking her one last time before Angelica took his arm and pulled him off of the now bleeding mermaid. Angelica bent down to the girl, pushing her hair from her face as Blackbeard ranted and cursed, kicking trees and cutting plants with his sword; but the crew concentrated on Angelica and Tamara, watching them carefully. "This is the truth, yes?"<p>

Tamara nodded, trying desperately to ignore the searing pains in her head and her abdomen. Angelica stroked her face gently, wiping the blood from the mermaids nose with her own hand "then you will take us to it, won't you?" Tamara nodded compliantly.

Compassion swam through Angelica, she lifted the mermaid from her feet. Though the creature was cannibalistic, and evil, she was too so small and delicate; her eyes glistened, and the warm glow that emitted from her body drew Angelica in. Tamara looked weak, and Angelica took her from the ground to carry her in her own arms, where she felt was safest for the scolded animal. "We must go back to the ship as soon as we can, we will take her with us."

"Aye." Blackbeard agreed with his daughter, once calmer "Quartermaster, bring your men, we will march forth and see if the mermaid lies. The rest of you, be off with you. Be gone, to the ship, now!"

Angelica kept hold of Tamara for a while as they marched back through the jungle as swiftly as they could. A good twenty of them, including Scrum, Philip and Jack. "She's going to get too hot if we do not get her to water soon," Philip warned.

"I know." Angelica picked up her pace a little, hoisting Tamara up to tighten her grip; "we must get her to the seashore as soon as we can. But you listen to me, mermaid. There will be little chance for you to escape, our men bring the net, do you understand? The only way you are getting into that water is in the net, yes?"

Tamara nodded her head; she was slowly becoming exasperated, as was Angelica from carrying her. "Here, let me take her," Philip said, taking the mermaid gently from Angelica's tired arms. Though Tamara obliged in placing her arms around Philips neck, she caught Scrum's eye for just a second, and found herself wishing to be in his company rather than Philip's. He was handsome, but conversation was scarce, he didn't seem interested in wanting to make her feel comfortable. He was gentle in carrying her, but remained quiet and brooding. Tamara's eyes began to close, and she quickly fell into a slumber.


	5. The Queen Anne's Revenge

Tamara awoke to the feeling of seawater splashing up her now-human legs. Philip was gently placing her onto the sand of the beach, and she could feel the cool water from the tide rushing pass her body. "Net." Angelica ordered, and Tamara felt the net being tightly wrapped around her arms and back. "Don't be too rough boys," Scrum intervened, pushing the others out of the way, loosening the hold of the net with Philip's help.

"Take it off," Tamara told them, her voice was suddenly panic-stricken, "take it off!" She cried, struggling; her legs were completely covered in seawater now, and were beginning to transform back into the shimmering silver tail. Scrum immediately began to tear at the net which clung around her narrow shoulders, and she threw his jacket from her back; hot from struggling.

And there she sat, the net sprawled around her; almost more beautiful than Scrum had yet seen her. Shyly, she moved her wet, golden hair over her shoulders to cover her naked upper-half before pushing her hands into the sand. It was the first time that Scrum had seen her in completely open sunlight; it was almost as though one of its rays had been personified on the ground in front of him. She allowed herself to fall backwards, to lie on the sand, spreading her arms out on either side of her, she gripped at the grains of sand and let them fall through her fingers. Tamara inhaled and exhaled deeply, feeling the coolness of the water soak her tail and reach under her back, while the heat of the sun embraced her. Though the net still surrounded her, she was unbothered by it.

Philip knelt down to her, "we must head back for the ship soon; just there." He pointed at it in the distance, as the other pirates pushed the shored longboats back into the water. Tamara exhaled once more before opening her eyes – which shone emerald in the sunlight. She gazed at Philip, her lips parted slightly as though she were about to open her mouth fully to speak; but she nodded.

Scrum looked up from the longboat that he had pushed into the shallow seawater. Philip was still kneeling above Tamara, staring straight at her, and she sat up slightly, gazing at him too; he noticed her mouth moving and Philip beginning to smile. Scrum suddenly felt a strong craving to march over and drag Philip out of his mermaid's way. 'Leave her _alone_,' Scrum thought 'just back off.'

"We need to get her into a longboat," Angelica said, leaning on Scrum's shoulder; she too was glancing at Philip and Tamara. "Go and get her." Angelica patted him on the shoulder, raising her eyebrows suggestively at him before walking towards the others. "Hurry up!" Scrum heard her yell at them.

He straightened himself up, and strutted over to the missionary and the mermaid. Tamara looked up at him, her eyes glittering through the sunlight. Scrum noticed that her stomach was flat and toned; and she had propped herself up on her delicate arms. He had to compose himself before he could open his mouth to speak to her – even then, the first time he tried he couldn't quite get his words out. Tamara smirked when he stuttered. "You'll have to sort out this situation here." Scrum told her, pointing at her tail.

"Just give her a moment longer in the water, Scrum. We're not exactly in a great rush." Philip spoke.

Scrum shot him a disdainful look, "Angelica says we need to get her to the ship as soon as we can."

"But she-"

"It's okay," Tamara told Philip, pushing herself away from the water until she was fully out of it. Her human legs reappeared, and she grabbed for Scrum's coat to cover herself with. Both Philip and Scrum made a dive to carry her; but Tamara wrapped her arms around Scrum's neck first, and he scooped her up easily. As he walked with her back to the longboats, Tamara pulled lightly at his necklace. As Scrum looked down, she smiled, "Philip is far more gentle with me than you are."

"What do you mean?" Scrum replied, loosening his grip on her.

"That's better. You shouldn't be so tense, I'm not about to try and escape from you. You're far too strong."

"What?" Scrum felt his knees weaken a little; her voice echoed in his head, 'strong'.

"Are you not? Very…masculine."

Scrum had never felt so proud of himself in all of his life, even if a part of him doubted that she was being entirely truthful. Mermaids would flatter anyone if it meant dinner, he knew that.

"Bring her here," Angelica said, as Scrum helped the mermaid into one of the longboats. Placing a hand on her forehead, Angelica asked Tamara, "how are you feeling?"

"Okay. Still hungry."

"You may eat when we reach the ship. And you will eat what is provided."

Tamara nodded. Scrum was sure that she would have eaten anything at that point; she hadn't even been given the chance to finish any of the fruit that Jack and Philip had brought her the previous night.

It took a while to get back to the ship; and Tamara stayed silent the entire time, gazing longingly at the electric blue Caribbean waters. Angelica kept a heavy watch on her, net at the ready in case the mermaid made an attempt at escape. "Quick, they are. Blink and she'll jump out of the boat." Gunner and Philip helped her to get onto the ship, and sat her down on the deck. She glanced around, "it's very pretty." She said at last.

Angelica ignored her, "get the mermaid some food," she called to one of the crew, Jimmy, who then disappeared into the cabin below. "Are you hungry?" Angelica asked.

"Yes."

"Once you have eaten, I will find you something to wear, okay?"

"Is that necessary?" Salaman said, eyeing the mermaid lustfully, leering at her. Tamara glared at him, as did Scrum.

"She is showing us the way to the Fountain of Youth" Angelica said, "while she is onboard this ship, you will not lay a finger on her."

Tamara looked ever so slightly shocked, but she gave Angelica a close-mouthed smile of thanks at Salaman's scorning.

"Jack, which way are we headed?" Angelica called to him. He was now on the upper deck, looking out onto the horizon, his compass in his right hand.

"East, obviously." He muttered to himself before turning back around to the group, "East. Bloody China."

Jimmy brought out bread for Tamara to eat, as well as a metal cup full of water; she eyed it, displeased at the meagre ration. "You will dine fully tonight," Angelica assured her, "just eat this for now."

Scrum watched her chewing on the bread, he had never seen a woman, especially not one so beautiful and elegant, eat quite like Tamara did. She wolfed the bread down, tearing into it; it was gone as soon as it had been handed to her. Scrum smiled; her hair was drying now, and it was going even more golden blonde in the sun. She looked at him as she took a swig from the metal cup, as she swallowed, her face contorted in disgust, "what is _that_?"

"Jimmy," Jack slapped him on the back, "have you just given that poor girl our rum?"

"Come on," Angelica lifted Tamara up into her arms again, gently and carried her down into the cabin.

"I wish she'd stop doing that." Jack said to Scrum, as the two of them watched the women disappear into the lower deck of the ship.

"Here," Angelica said to Tamara, who had been led into the pirate woman's personal quarters, which were decorated beautifully; full of rich colours and well lit in the daytime.

Tamara was given a gown, made of materials she could not identify, but it was beautiful nonetheless, pure white with wing-like sleeves, plenty of lace and underskirts. It made her look even more angelic than she had previously done. "It was my mothers, she was your size too, very petite." Angelica said, helping Tamara into the beautiful gown. "It is lovely." Tamara said, examining the sleeves, "thank you."

"I wouldn't have had you walking around in Scrum's coat until we reached the fountain; those are pirates up there. They still have the needs of men." She noticed Tamara's expression, "they won't touch you, believe me; you have plenty of security from Jack, myself, Philip and Scrum. My father will even make sure that nobody so much as thinks about it. We won't hurt you if you do not hurt us, you understand?"

"My business is murdering those who trespass in mermaid territory; this ship is not my territory, I have nothing to protect, and if you feed me sufficiently, I won't be needing to eat anybody out there."

Angelica smiled at her, "so long as that is clear between us. You are still a woman, and you are still young; you may not like it, but you need to be protected. Now come to the deck, we will wait for the Captain and his men to return." She said, gripping onto Tamara again.

"Bloody hell," Jack grinned as the women emerged onto the ship's deck, "you two look like the bride and groom." The men all sniggered, as Angelica delicately placed Tamara on a step leading to the upper deck. Scrum gaped at her; her hair had now dried completely and skimmed her waist in length, tumbling down in loose curls, framing her face. 'I'm in love,' he said to himself. "Well, would you look at that?" Said Gunner, emerging from behind Scrum, "that's a picture, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Scrum said breathlessly, but Philip had sauntered past them to go and talk to Tamara. Scrum felt his face growing hot; Philip was an ideal match for her, he was lean and handsome, she was petite and outstandingly beautiful. When Scrum turned around, Jack stood closely behind him; he glanced over at Tamara and Philip, "far too typical, isn't it?" He winked, "oi, missionary man! Below deck, I need to make a bet with you son."

Philip sighed, standing up and slowly approached the other two. As Jack led him down the stairs to the lower deck, he winked once more at Scrum, who made his way over to Tamara, grateful that Jack had saved him.

"Hello." She said, as she saw him approaching.

"You look beautiful." He heard the stupidity as soon as he said it. 'Oh Christ Scrum, you idiot.' He mentally slapped himself 'why the bloody hell did you say that?'

But she smiled, "thank you. See, I knew you meant it."

"Of course. So, uh…how long do you reckon it will take the Captain to find what he's looking for?"

"A few hours, I suppose. Where they are going to is difficult to find, but Blackbeard is not a stupid man, no matter how cruel he may be."

"I'm sorry that nobody stopped him," Scrum apologised, remembering the strong beating she had received.

"Angelica did. And it's okay, I did not expect for anybody else to become involved; that would have been foolish."

"Very."

"Would you like to sit down?" Tamara patted the empty space beside her. Naturally, Scrum obliged. "Eager isn't he, the handsome boy, Philip?"

"How'd you mean?"

"Eager to be so mysterious and brooding and religion-focused and entirely… dull."

Scrum felt victorious; she thought that Philip was _dull_. "Am I not dull then?"

"Not at all," she confessed, "quite the opposite." She was looking him in the eyes as she spoke, and he almost became lost in hers. His heartbeat was beginning to race; he wanted to be around her all the time, for she made him feel as though he was the only other human being that existed to her.

"Don't you love being by the sea? It's so beautiful." She gazed at the horizon.

"Absolutely. Didn't you get a bit sick of living in it though?"  
>"Never. It's warm, it's beautiful, I could actually move, there's plenty to eat. Plenty of sailors." She smirked, "don't worry, you aren't too appetising."<p>

"Good."

"It would be a waste to eat you."

"What do you mean?"

Tamara looked into his eyes again; coyly she bit her lip, "nothing."

Blackbeard returned to the ship disgruntled; but Tamara had been telling the truth, all they had found was a pool and a waterfall. The ship had set sail Eastbound, and Tamara had been sufficiently fed; dining with Captain Blackbeard and his daughter.

"Can we trust her though?" Gunner piped up as the men wolfed down a large dinner.

"We sort of have to, mate," Jack said, taking a large swig of rum, "she's told us the truth so far."  
>"How do you reckon she's holding up with Blackbeard and Angelica?"<br>"She isn't afraid of him," Philip said, "mermaids are afraid of nothing; she's still stronger than him."

"She's over a foot shorter than him." Ezekiel pointed out, "I didn't expect her to be so…little. But she's got quite a chest on her for such a small thing."

"Honestly, show her a degree of respect," Philip said, "she could crush this whole ship if she wished it. Mermaids are quick and tough."

"And extraordinarily gorgeous," said Gunner.

"That too."

Scrum felt smug, 'she said you're dull,' he thought to himself as he listened to Philip praising Tamara. "She likes you though Scrummy you lucky bugger." Ezekiel nudged him.

"Yeah, what's that all about, how is it you're getting the special treatment?" asked Jimmy. Scrum shrugged, spooning his food into his mouth, avoiding the need to answer their questions.

As the night drew on, Scrum began to wonder what Tamara was doing at that point, where on the ship was she? He liked to have her there, just to look at and talk to. She completely consumed his head for the entire night, and as the others slept in the cabin, Scrum could think of nothing else but the insanity-inducing, extraordinary mermaid who was to lead them to the Fountain of Youth.

He must have lay there for hours, just thinking about their conversations; but he wished for nothing more than her to escape his mind. It was no good her not actually being there to converse with.

"Find a space," he heard Blackbeard's voice murmur before the cabin door shut. Scrum sat up, and in the candlelight he saw Tamara sitting by the door. He rose from his bed, "are you alright?" he asked her quietly, not wanting to wake any of the others. He walked towards her, his footsteps as light as he could possibly make them, "apparently I stay with the men, Blackbeard wants them to 'teach me the ways of piracy'." She said.

"I see. Well you can have my bed if you want it."

He saw her raise an eyebrow, "I won't be in it, don't worry."

"Good, it's too hot to share a bed." She took his hand and allowed him to lift her over his shoulder; he carried her carefully to where his bed was in a quiet corner of the cabin.

"Are there people still awake?" She asked, looking around the cabin where beds lay empty.

"Everyone takes shifts, there are people up on deck, just keeping watch."

"I see." She sat up, as he knelt on the ground below her. Scrum could see in her face that she was sad.

"What's the matter?"

"Don't bother." She said, laying on her back, "things just are. It is none of your business."

"Sorry." Scrum looked at her, studying her petite stature. When he realised she did not wish to talk, he said disappointedly "I'll let you sleep then."

"Thank you." She turned her back to him, and there was silence.


	6. Rum

Scrum watched Tamara slightly leaning over the side of the ship, gripping on tightly to the side to support herself from falling. Slowly she was becoming used to having human legs. The gentle sea breeze blew on her long tousled curls and she gazed out onto the horizon longingly. Angelica had been keeping a close watch on her, as had Blackbeard's zombie-like henchmen; though the mermaid could not yet walk, she could still jump. Philip and Scrum scrubbed hard on the upper deck where she stood.

"We are passing St Lucia, look." She said, addressing them both. Her voice carried a tone of solemness as she stared out at the distant shore of the island.

Both men rose and walked to where Tamara stood. She pointed at the small green dot in the distance and sighed. "I'm sure you'll be allowed into the water at some point," Philip said.

"If I behave, then perhaps. But we are headed south, rounding Antarctica where the waters become too cold, even for a mermaid."

Philip and Scrum shot each other worried looks; there had been rumours that those who sailed around Antarctica rarely returned, for the icy waters were cursed with creatures of all kinds - creatures worse than mermaids, who wrecked entire ships. Not only that, but the ocean was freezing, as was the air; men had frozen to death before they had even reached that Antarctic sea.

"I see," Philip swallowed hard. Scrum somehow felt uncomfortable speaking when with the two of them, even though he knew he should pipe up for fear that Tamara would change her mind about who's company she preferred.

"You won't be complaining about the heat once we get there, believe me." She said.

"Never a truer word spoken," Jack interrupted, emerging from behind them and placing a hand gently on Tamara's shoulder "you'd best brace yourselves boys." Tamara glared at the Jack's hand, which he hand began to move slightly up her neck. Shrugging him off, she turned around fully, catching Scrum's eye for just a second. "Jack, Philip," Ezekiel called from the middle deck of the ship, "the Captain wants to see you." Jack bowed his head to the others, before being led away by Philip; leaving Scrum with Tamara once more.

"It's almost like they want us to be alone, isn't it?" She said, eyeing him curiously.

"It is a bit, ain't it?" He blushed. She was now leaning back against the side, smirking. "Should I trust you this close to the edge of a ship?"

"If you want to." Tamara smiled playfully.

'I do want to.' Scrum thought to himself, gaping at her as she grinned cheekily. "You do though, don't you? You want to just come a little closer." As she spoke, he found himself moving towards her subconsciously, just as she had said. "Come on, come here," Tamara ordered, and Scrum obeyed. Then, suddenly she had him by the collar of his shirt, and had switched positions with him fully. "Do you trust me not to push you?" She asked. Scrum looked for a moment over his shoulder, the sea was moving quite rapidly beneath him; as was his heartbeat out of fear that she really would. But he was lost for words. She was leaning all of her body weight on him, and he was sure that sooner or later he would slip.

"Do you?" She was smiling so beautifully, her face close to his, but he could feel himself leaning even further over the side of the ship as she gripped onto him so as not to fall into a heap on the floor; he was quickly losing his balance. Scrum wasn't sure which element of his position he should have been more preoccupied with. "No." he said, he could feel the wind in his ears, and was sure had said it loudly.

Tamara stood straight immediately, pulling him up with her. Scrum was now at his full height, far taller than her. His heart pounded as she stared directly into his eyes, searching them for fear, still leaning into him to keep her balance. He himself began to gaze at her mouth, her perfect lips parted ever so slightly so that he could just about see the whiteness of her teeth. Then, she closed them, clenching her jaw angrily.

"You were holding me over the side of a moving ship, did you expect me to trust you?"

"Yes." She said, hurt.

"But you're a mermaid."  
>Tamara snapped around, glaring at him, her eyes more full of anger than Scrum had ever seen them. He was unsure of whether to find it endearing when she lost her balance and fell to the floor, "What reason would I have to have tipped you over the side, Scrum, to seek freedom for myself? No." Those who were scrubbing the deck were now glancing over at them, Tamara had raised her voice. "That's what you don't consider, that maybe, I want there to be just one person who does trust me not to harm them. You're a coward, and you -"<p>

"Tamara," Philip interrupted, coming over to her.

Scrum stood glued to the spot, baffled, "crazy." He quietly said to himself. Philip looked from Scrum to Tamara, "everything alright?" But neither answered. He knelt down to the angry, beautiful girl and whispered into her ear. Scrum watched her obligingly place her arms around him, and be carried below deck.

The day wore on boringly; Scrum spent the rest of it scrubbing the deck, being ordered around by Blackbeard and being laughed at by the other crew members. But there was no more sign of Tamara, or Philip or Jack. Scrum had guessed that Tamara would dine with Blackbeard and Angelica again, but neither Philip nor Jack turned up to eat. Eventually, Scrum had become angry at himself for not just saying yes; but would she have pushed him over the side? He did not know. Where was she? Where were the others? Scrum had a sickening feeling that they had somehow escaped, and swam off together. He had to slap himself back into reality when he began to panic that he would never see Tamara again. The relief he felt was overwhelming when he, at last, saw Jack.

He had been sitting on the ship's upper deck, drinking ale when he saw Jack emerging from the door leading to Blackbeard's quarters. "Alright there mate?" Jack said, bemused at the sight of Scrum scrambling up to his feet. "Where've you been? And where's Tamara?"

"She's down below deck with the missionary."

Scrum felt lucky that it was dark, for he was sure that his face was bright red with jealousy. Tamara definitely had a preference now; Philip would definitely have said yes to trusting her. "Smooth bastard." Scrum muttered, making Jack chuckle.

"Indeed."  
>"What does that mean?"<p>

"Well he is; she's not been in the best of moods today, that creature. The missionary's a sensitive one though, he 'understands'" Jack lifted his hands to make an inverted comma's sign.

"That was my fault," Scrum said before telling Jack the whole 'overboard' story.

"Jesus," Jack said, as the two men sat on the floor to consume the large bottle of ale that Scrum carried, "maybe she's the sensitive one."

"Exactly!"

"She knocks around with you quite a lot, doesn't she?"  
>"How d'you mean?"<p>

"She likes you best."

Scrum straightened himself up, proudly, "I know. Just not sure if she does anymore. Look at that…"

Philip was carrying Tamara up the stairs from the lower deck, his neck was bent slightly; she was whispering to him, and he laughed. Scrum clenched his jaw as the other two approached. Placing her gently down on the floor, Tamara revealed a supply of glass bottles filled with rum, and a few large tobacco pipes, one of which had already been lit. Scrum watched her smoke from it delicately. "So the mermaid has a dark side," Jack grinned, "very cunning."

"Thank you." She smiled at him for what Scrum believed to be the first time ever. Tamara handed Jack a bottle of rum.

"So where did you disappear off to then?" Scrum asked her.

"Nowhere…" She said. The look in her eye told Scrum that she was no longer too angry with him, and as Philip and Jack began to converse, Tamara gazed at Scrum and smiled.

They stayed up drinking and talking until the sunrise. It was interesting to watch Tamara drink so nonchalantly. Maybe it was the talk, maybe it was just the rum, or maybe it was the exhaustion she felt, but alcohol seemed to take a very human effect on her; she was almost louder than Jack was, and she laughed as he put her over his shoulder and spun her around as they sang 'A Pirates Life for Me'. "We," Jack said drunkenly, as the mermaid leant her head on his shoulder, "we are going to teach you to walk, savvy?"

"Aye, Captain, savvy." She replied, clinking her bottle against his. It came as a surprise to all three of them just how much fun she was to be around, just like a normal girl – bar her extraordinary appearance. She heavily encouraged Philip to drink, even though he was slightly reluctant due to his views on religion, which he taught her about through slurred words. It was Scrum who carried her back to the cabin, as Philip and Jack stayed to watch the sunrise fully. He placed her down onto his bed, and took his space on the floor.

"Sorry for earlier. I understand why it's difficult to trust me, I really do." She apologised.

Scrum stared at the ceiling, "no, it's fine. I'm sorry too if I offended you."

"You did a little, but I know why you were worried. It was a little extreme of me."

"Yeah, it was." He said jokingly. Tamara's words were a little slurred, but she was well composed after all that she had drunk in terms of speech. Far better than Scrum was.

"You're different." She said.

"Am I?"  
>"Yes. You protect."<p>

"You're different too, I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Yeah." Scrum said, closing his eyes, more than ready to dream about her.

Tamara leant over the side of the bed, and kissed Scrum lightly on his forehead. He opened his eyes fully, feeling her hair fall softly over him. As he was about to gain the courage in his intoxicated state to lean up and kiss her fully on the mouth, she retreated back. "Goodnight, Scrum."


	7. Escape to the Black Pearl

Scrum awoke to find Tamara staring down at him, smiling. How had he _just _missed kissing her? Although he was happy to see her, he was beginning to wish that she would just stop leading him to believe that he was going to get what he wanted. He had always been taught that thinking too much got you into trouble, and thinking about Tamara all the time was messing up his head.

"You sleep very deeply." She told him.

"Yeah." He said rubbing his eyes, remembering the light kiss she had placed on his forehead; wishing it had been her lips.

"Are you hungry?" She asked, sitting cross-legged on the bed that used to belong to him.

"Famished." He said, sitting up fully to face her. Tamara flashed him a brilliant smile, and giggled, "I brought you something." From behind her she pulled a plate mounded with toasted bread, butter, cheese and cold meat, "the bread may be a little cold now, but still…"

Scrum thanked her, taking the plate and wolfing down the food. Tamara watched him do so, almost as though he was a child and she was his mother. "My, you _were _hungry."

Actually, he hadn't been; in truth, Scrum had eaten so quickly because he knew that one of Tamara's oddities was that she became silent while people went about everyday tasks, such as eating. He wanted to talk to her.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Fine, thank you," she said, "though Jack has had his head over the side of the ship for most of the day. I didn't realise people could become so highly affected by alcohol." Scrum laughed at the idea of Jack vomiting all over the ship, but Tamara was looking at him seriously, "there is one thing you promised me last night."

'Kiss me' Scrum prayed in his head, 'please, please, please, just do it.' There was no way he would have kissed her first, he wasn't brave enough to hone in on someone as beautiful as her, and besides, he doubted that she would have elaborated. "What's that?"

"You said you would teach me to walk."

"Ah! That, yeah of course."

Most of the crew joined in in helping Tamara learn this basic human skill, even Angelica watched on fondly in between shooting sarcastic comments at Jack, who hadn't at all recovered from the previous night. Scrum felt proud that Tamara insisted on clinging to him the most for support, though she did offer her glances at the handsome young missionary who, as usual, had to involve himself in every activity including her. Blackbeard was not reluctant to the crew's break, in fact, he encouraged them to teach her.

It was easy enough for her to learn, and within a few hours, she had almost mastered the art of using her human legs to transport herself, and more so, it did wonders for Scrum's ego. Salaman muttered to him, "well, you are the favourite, aren't you?" even Gunner was glaring in jealousy. It seemed all of them wanted to take turns in holding her, each encouraged her and praised her, while muttering crude comments to each other. One in particular outraged Scrum; he had to remind himself to maintain control when he heard Gunner whisper to Jimmy "the only reason she needs those legs is to wrap them around my face."

"Leave it out, lads." Scrum had given them a disapproving look. By the time he had looked back, Tamara was walking ever so gracefully. Her back was perfectly straight, she moved elegantly; the only problem: she was holding on tight to Philip's hand and as she finished her steps she turned to him and beamed, as though it were him who had done all of the work. Scrum remained disheartened once again; Philip was indeed, her perfect match. How could Scrum ever compete with the handsome and intelligent missionary?

Tamara spent the next couple of days holding onto objects as she walked, but once she had become an expert, she couldn't get enough of moving around. She spun around, making herself dizzy, dancing in front of Scrum as he sat under the ships mast eating a large red apple.

"You've still got a way to go before you can be a real ballerina."

"Don't be so discouraging, Scrum." She said, stopping mid-spin to retort. Bounding up to him, she placed a hand on his leg to support herself. Scrum felt as though he were the one needing support; the heat didn't exactly help these sort of moments where she caught him off guard. She was so light that he could barely feel her using his leg to push herself up to the platform on which he sat. He felt her eyes on him for a moment before she snatched his bitten-in-to apple, "hand it over you cheeky cow." He held out his hand, not daring to try and snatch it from her.

"Only if you kiss me." She said. Scrum wasn't quite sure if he had heard her correctly, but he was sure that his jaw had dropped.

"You what?"  
>"Kiss me, and I'll give you the apple back."<p>

'Just do it' Scrum told himself, inhaling deeply. The thing about her was, he couldn't tell in these situations if she was being entirely serious. In his wildest dreams he couldn't imagine why a creature as breathtaking as Tamara would kiss someone like him. He leaned towards her, becoming slightly distracted by her clearly bemused expression; but he soon forgot as he leaned closer into her. This was going to be it, he was finally going to kiss her; she was truly all he had ever wanted, and she had offered him a kiss, only a blind idiot would have said no to that.

"Fine, there you go." She said, he felt her shove the apple back into his hand. Scrum opened his eyes, "but I didn't, wait, you said to kiss you."

"I know."  
>"But I didn't kiss you."<p>

"I know." She said, turning her head away from him and looking out onto the horizon, "We must be passing Mexico by now."

Scrum let the apple roll out of his hand and onto the floor. His desire for her was burning, driving him crazy, yet all she wanted to do was tease him. A surge of emotions ran through him, and he couldn't pick out which one was the most prominent. All he knew was that he wanted her more than anything, and that he was never going to have her.

"Look over there, at that ship." She pointed out into the distance. The vessel was black, with what looked to be rather tattered sails. It was definitely another pirate ship, and it took only a few seconds to realise just which one it was.

"Christ almighty!" Scrum cried, jumping down from the raised platform and running as quickly as he could below the deck.

"Jack! Jack, come here."

"Let me guess, that mermaids been at it again, she-"

"No, no not her this time." Scrum lowered his voice so that nobody could hear, "a ship is gaining on us, and I think it might be the Black Pearl."

"Interesting," Jack said, twirling one of the plaits in his beard around his finger, "the Pearl, you say?"

"What do you think Barbossa wants, Jack?"

"The same thing as Blackbeard, Scrummy. He wants the Fountain of Youth, and the little Princess that makes it work."

"Tamara?"

"No, the Quartermaster…Of course Tamara!"

Scrum laughed before composing himself, he wouldn't let Barbossa take her, he was adamant to keep her by him no matter what.

"He's not taking her." Scrum said, straightening himself up to his full height.

"This isn't about just getting off with her anymore, is it Scrummy?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"And what if it's not?" Scrum asked rhetorically.

"Well you've got one pressing issue. The Pearl is faster than The Queen Anne's Revenge, much faster. And it's cannons aren't too shabby either, and you've yet to see the crew fight. No matter what happens mate, Barbossa _will_ get her."

At that moment, the door burst open, and there stood Philip and Tamara. "Jack, she's gaining," Philip announced, "Scrum, I'm sorry I'll need to speak with Jack and Tamara for a moment."

"Hold on a minute, I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on." Scrum insisted.

"Nothing is going on," Philip scoffed.

"I'm not stupid missionary, I know Barbossa is after her,"

"He's not 'after' her. Please, I just need to speak with the two of them."

"Wait, Philip; I think Scrum should stay."

"And then what? When Salaman appears we just invite him in too, do we?"

"Leave off it, missionary." Scrum gave him a dirty look.

"How can you trust him?" Philip looked at Tamara.

"How can you fully trust _me _Philip? You just have to."

"Scrum, really it's best if you leave."

"No," Tamara protested, "he's staying. He's already seen the Pearl."

"Actually," Jack interrupted, "I think probably everybody's noticed that…Carry on." But they didn't get a chance to, as Scrum barged past Philip and Tamara, out on to the deck.

The day wore on drearily, and there was little sign of Tamara until night, when most of the crew were asleep. Tamara was poking Scrum awake, "are you coming?" She asked.

"To where?" he rubbed his eyes.

"Come with me." She ordered, pulling him up by his arm and leading him from the cabin. It was pitch black outside, not a sound could be heard but Scrum and Tamara's whispers as she led him to the back of the ship. If it weren't for the moon and the star-lit sky, Scrum would have been blind to everything.

"You see that, over there?" Scrum had to squint at where Tamara was pointing into the distance; a tiny black dot was bobbing up and down on the ocean surface. "Philip and Jack are in there."

"What? How did they get the longboat without making any noise?"

"_Very _carefully."

"But why are they moving towards the Pearl?" Scrum said, baffled.

"I have to go with them, I wanted to say goodbye."

It was like Scrum had been punched in the stomach, he felt a little sick, and had to ask her to repeat what she had just said. He knew that it shouldn't have been the end of their encounter, he couldn't, he _wouldn't _let her go, not just yet. It were as though he depended on her, she had brought something to him that he couldn't quite describe, and being apart from her would return him to the mundane life he had previously led. Just over a week he had known her; it wasn't long enough.

"Philip told me to get into the boat to, but I said I would wake you first to ask you – and he was very reluctant to this…"

"To what?"

"Would you care to join me, I mean us?"

"What d'you mean?" Scrum was highly confused, was she saying goodbye, or was she staying?

"If you jump off this ship with me, I will lead you to the Black Pearl; to Captain Barbossa."

"And how is he any different from Blackbeard? Wait a minute, how do you know that he _is _any different from Blackbeard."

"Because I trust Jack Sparrow's word, Scrum, even if most don't. I know an honest man when I see one. I know Jack is crooked in his ways, but he is truthful to me…Are you coming, or not?"

Besides becoming a pirate, Scrum didn't think he had ever considered doing something so wrong in all of his life. If he left with her, Blackbeard would hunt her down and kill him too. If he stayed, he would perhaps spend the rest of his life never seeing another mermaid, and it was likely that Blackbeard would accuse him of helping her to escape.

"Is this why Philip took you below deck the other day with Jack?"

"Yes. Please, Scrum, I would like you to join me. I will take you to the Black Pearl, where things are far better. Please?" She was pouting slightly, almost begging him. Scrum felt dutiful to her.

She beamed at him, "it will be such an adventure. Hold onto me." She placed his arms around her, and walked backwards towards the very edge of the ship. Scrum looked over her shoulder and saw the blackness of the ocean roaring underneath them. Tamara, stroked his cheek gently, calming him, "it's alright," she said, "it won't hurt, I promise you." She was slowly leaning backwards, Scrum maintained his grip on her, not daring to let her fall alone. "Do you trust me?"

Scrum closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the mid-air moment, "yes."

Tamara leant backwards fully, holding onto Scrum, who yelped as he felt himself toppling in the air towards the evil-looking black sea.


	8. The Battle

The water was warm as Scrum plunged into it. He felt Tamara writhing under the water as her tail reappeared; she pushed his hands away from her waist as she struggled to take off the heavy dress she had been given. Both of them were pulled up to the surface; Scrum rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the stinging seawater that had gone up his nose.

Tamara smiled at him, she was holding onto his hat, which had fallen into the water, "come on; grab hold of my tail." She said, placing the hat gently back on his head. But Scrum was nervous in doing so; she was so delicate, making her pull him along would have been like tearing a petal from a flower. "Scrum, hold onto me." She ordered. Scrum felt around under the water, sure that he looked like a complete idiot. He was clumsy in the sea compared to Tamara, who was naturally elegant in all she did.

Before holding on, Scrum told her," You know, apparently a mermaids kiss can save a man from drowning."

"That is true, but it is a way to the boat, and that would take far too long. Just hold onto me tight; here, take my hand instead," she pulled her arm slightly out of the water, gripping Scrum's hand, moving him towards her, "if you need air, just tug on my arm, okay? This is fun, believe me."

"Wait, what are we do-" But before he could finish his question, Tamara had yanked him under the water and was darting forwards at a speed faster than any ship Scrum had ever seen or heard of. He closed his eyes tightly, and held his breath, more afraid than anything at this point. He only had to tug once on her arm before she rose up out of the water, "I'm sure you can breathe for longer than that. And hold onto this, please it just keeps coming off." She pushed his hat into his hands.

"What the bloody hell was _that_?" Scrum was still gasping for air.

"That, Scrum, is called moving."

"That, Tamara, is called a heart attack."

"You'll get used to it."

"But I-" and again he was plunged under the water, but after a few seconds, he began to enjoy the speed at which she darted this time. She must have been faster than any animal on land, or any under the sea for that matter. Scrum kept his eyes closed, which didn't help him feel any better, but it didn't make him feel any worse. After another thirty-or-so seconds, he tugged on her arm. This time she only brought him up for a moment, not bothering to speak to him as he filled his lungs with air before she pulled him back down again. It only took them a few minutes until Tamara stopped, and Scrum heard her hitting the side of something. As he rose onto the surface of the water, and gulped in air, he heard Tamara speaking, "I've brought Scrum along."

"What?" Philip gasped, "Tamara I thought I told you not to say anything."

"Mate," Scrum saw Jack tapping Philip's shoulder once he had opened his eyes, "don't forget she's a mermaid, it's only Neptune and Calypso that tell her what to do."

Philip stared out at the sea, thinking.

Scrum piped up, "can I get in this boat or what? You won't believe what's just bloody happened to me."

Philip held out a hand and aided in hoisting Scrum up, then Tamara – who he grabbed more quickly than usual in fear that she may have swam off.

Captain Barbossa and a handful of his crew stood on the deck of the Black Pearl, waiting to greet Jack and the others. Scrum climbed on board, Barbossa shooting him a bizarre look; clearly only three of them had been expected.

"Where be the mermaid, Jack?" He asked. Barbossa looked truer to piracy than Blackbeard himself, he was tall and rough-looking, his face almost covered in scarring and, as the rumours had claimed, he had one wooden leg.

Philip was hoisting Tamara over the side of the ship; she wore only his white shirt which was loose and long on her. Barbossa stood glued to the spot, as Tamara glanced at him timidly. The crew were gaping wondrously at her.

As he dared move closer, Barbossa said, "you did pick a pretty one, didn't you Jack?"  
>"Actually," Jack said in his usual drunken manner, "you've got Scrum here to thank for that one. He caught her."<p>

Scrum stood at full height as Barbossa eyed him from head to toe. Though he was intimidating, there was something about him that made him more approachable than Blackbeard, "so that's why you're here too is it?"

"Aye, sir." Scrum roused the courage to look Barbossa in the face while he spoke.

"Then I give ye credit, lad," he leered back at Tamara, lightly stroking her cheek which she pulled away from, "never have I seen a creature quite as lovely as this one here." Tamara looked at Barbossa, her jaw clenched in her usual endearingly angry way. He stood right in front of her now, and gazed at her for a moment before turning his head to his crew, "no matter how long a man spends at sea, you never can become immune to beauty such as this."

Scrum had begun to think that perhaps Barbossa was going to be _far _nicer to Tamara than Blackbeard had been. The crew mumbled in agreement, each man's eyes fixed on the nearly-naked Tamara.

"She needs clothes." Spoke gently a shirtless Philip.

"Does she?" Spoke a gormless member of the crew; he was youthful but ragged and filthy. The others sniggered, even Barbossa smirked at their crude attitude. He was still standing directly in front of her, and he reached out a filthy hand to move a strand of wet hair behind her ear, "never have I been this close to one, you must excuse my poor conduct miss."

"You are excused, Captain." Tamara spoke, eyeing Barbossa carefully.

"Even an angels voice befalls her!" Barbossa spoke to no-one, "boys, prepare yourselves to tear your hearts out before her." He picked up a delicate hand and kissed it, "the crew of the Black Pearl shall risk life and limb for you, my dear."

"And I thank them graciously." Tamara replied, glancing at them, letting Barbossa caress her hand.

"Captain," Philip interrupted, "The Queen Anne's Revenge is set to move South, by Antarctica,"

"Aye. As is the Pearl, lad." Barbossa spoke confidently, dropping Tamara's hand.

"But we can not follow them, nor can we take lead for risk of battle. I know that the Pearl is victorious in terms of speed but Blackbeard had recruited vicious henchmen, and the crew itself are fierce enough."

"The crew of the Pearl remain even more so, and you have a creature here that is more vicious than Blackbeard and his men can ever wish to be. Don't let her appearance fool you, my boy," he spoke of Tamara, who looked proud of herself "the blood that runs through her veins is that of a warrior, a leader." Scrum looked at the angel beside him as Barbossa continued, "if ten thousand strong bombarded this ship, she could beat them down single-handedly. She may be small, but you, dear boy, seem to underestimate her strength just because she hasn't shown it yet," he walked up to Tamara once more, "are you afraid of those on the Revenge?"

Tamara looked sideways, Scrum remembered her intense beating, Blackbeard's suffocation of her in the glass container, Angelica's threats to starve her. Tamara's eyes were fierce, "no. I do not fear them."

"Good, and I hope none of you do either, for at some point we shall cross their path. Men, are you prepared for battle?"

"Aye!" The men called in unison.

"Then it's settled. Now hurry yourselves up, it's rude not to provide a guest with food but it is also rude for that guest to keep the host waiting to serve."

Barbossa led them into his chamber, where a large, polished mahogany dining table had been set out with a whole roasted pig, and a selection of vegetables and desserts. Scrum offered to fill Tamara's plate before setting down to eat his own food, which when he bit into it, was delicious.

Barbossa had seated Tamara next to him, and he eyed her as she ate, while Jack began to discuss his adventures on the Pearl. Tamara was still wearing Philip's shirt and Scrum could have sworn that Barbossa was trying to peek down it.

"Wine?" He offered her, holding up a tumbler full of deep red liquid. Tamara eyed it curiously before holding up her golden goblet and drinking deeply from it. "You eat rather heartily, don't you miss?"

Tamara nodded. "Not much was provided for her on the Queen Anne's Revenge, was it love?" said Jack.

"Not enough."

"Ah," said Barbossa, "mermaids need a good supply of food, it keeps up your strength, does it not? And you'll be needing a lot of that for when the waters become cold."

Tamara glared out of the cabin window, where she noticed two crewmembers gazing in at her. Barbossa smiled at her, though he had seen the men from the back of his head "you must forgive the men of their behaviour, I'm sure you understand why they act so."  
>"Where is it that we sleep tonight, Barbossa?" Tamara ignored his previous comment.<p>

"Wherever it is that you wish."

Tamara glanced up at Scrum quickly, their eyes meeting for just a moment. Scrum knew that wherever Tamara wished to sleep that night, he would be going there too.

Scrum awoke later that morning, still believing that he was on the Queen Anne's Revenge, and that the incident with the Black Pearl had all just been a dream.

"Mornin'" Scrum heard the voice of a man whose accent was similar to his own, "name's Mallot." The man said, shaking the now-awake Scrum's hand.

"Scrum…where's the, uh, where's Tamara?" He said looking around the near-empty cabin of the Black Pearl.  
>"So that's her name?" Mallot said dreamily, "you don't know 'ow long I've waited; my entire life I been waitin' to see a mermaid, but 'avin one on the ship with me is somethin' else."<p>

"Yeah," Scrum said, displeased. He knew that all men everywhere would be enticed by Tamara, but that didn't stop him from getting angsty when they voiced it.

"She got up with that young lad, he had her by the hand and all leadin' her out of 'ere. Think she went to get some clothes off Barbossa. Eventually 'e agreed that it was wrong to let 'er walk around naked."

"Right." Said Scrum, standing up, "I'll need to go and, uh, retrieve her then." And with that he exited the cabin.

"Where's Tamara?" Scrum tapped Jack on the shoulder.

"Oh Scrummy, you wait until you see her." Jack said, eyebrows raised; wandering away almost as soon as he'd turned around. Scrum glanced around the ship before finally noticing her. Tamara was on the upper deck by the wheel of the ship, with Captain Barbossa and a large, heavily tattooed man. From head to toe, she looked the part of a pirate. She wore a black hat on top of her tumbling curls, and a loose white shirt with a black corset over it, covered by a rich-looking burgundy tailcoat. A sword could be seen poking from the belt of her black trousers, and she was kicking her pirates boots into the wooden floor of the upper deck. Scrum began to feel faint; if he had thought she was perfect before, she was even more so now. Philip appeared behind him, "one of the crew members complained that it was bad luck to have a woman on board a ship, but Barbossa couldn't quite bring himself to dress her too masculine. She rather suits it though, doesn't she?"

Scrum let out a dazed, "yeah."

"Scrum, wake up." Tamara shook him, rousing him from the sleep, which had taken him so long to achieve.

"Huh?" He yawned, looking out of the cabin window, it was dark outside but there was a rumble; the ship's anchor was being lowered.

Suddenly, all of the crewmembers were awake, readying their guns and swords.

"Blackbeard?" Scrum suddenly panicked.

"We caught up with them quicker than anticipated," Philip approached them, loading a spear-ended rifle, "keep her safe."

"Wait a minute, what do you mean 'keep her safe'?" Tamara mocked Philip's tone, "I'm not waiting down here until the fuss dies down, I'm going up there."

"Can you even use a sword?" Philip raised an eyebrow as Tamara leapt up off the floor and removed her hat and coat. The gunshots and screams were constant now.

"What did Barbossa tell you about doubting me, Philip?" She retorted, swaggering from the cabin. Scrum jumped up immediately to follow her, readying his sword, Philip did the same. As he ran up the stairs, Scrum immediately prepared himself for battle; he had done this many times before, but never to protect a mermaid. He had to look for her first, he knew he had to protect her; she was far too delicate and could be harmed far too easily.

The deck of both the Black Pearl and The Queen Anne's Revenge were chaotic, men were diving at each other, swords flew everywhere as well as gunfire. Where was Tamara?

At that moment, a man who Scrum recognised as Gunner was being launched across the ship, screaming at the top of his lungs. Feet away from him was Tamara, who smirked with pride; she had kicked him as far as she could and had sent him flying through the air. Scrum saw Ezekiel move for her, but she was too quick for him, and in just seconds she had thrown him overboard. But it was time for him to defend himself, as Gunner had now begun to go for Scrum, yelling that he was a traitor. Though he looked clumsy, and acted it most of the time, Scrum was skilled with a sword. The fight commenced for a long while, with Scrum constantly seeking out Tamara. She had climbed up the mast of the ship, and was shooting at those who remained on the Queen Anne's Revenge. Angelica could be heard yelling at her father's crew to fire at Tamara, who laughed at them mockingly as they tried to aim for her, yet her beauty prevented their accuracy. Scrum laughed as he looked on at Jimmy accidentally shoot a hole in one of Blackbeard's cabin windows from gazing at Tamara for too long.

Then came the zombie henchmen, who bombarded the ship, far taller and wider than the others, most of them aimed to get Tamara from the mast. As she saw them coming, Tamara climbed even further up and tried to shoot for them, but her pistol had lost it's ammunition.

"Jack!" She cried to Sparrow, who was fighting his own battle against Salaman, "do something!"

Scrum, in between fighting others off, saw the Quartermaster nearing in on Tamara; he had rounded her on the mast, there was no way now that she could jump down. "Come on gorgeous," he cat-called her, "get yourself down here so we can tear you apart."

Tamara hissed at him loudly; even though she was now almost defenceless, she could still _look _ferocious. Guns were still blazing in Scrums ears, he was still being attacked from all sides, but he noticed that the crewmembers of the Revenge were now fewer than those of the Pearl. Jack had been right, the crew were great fighters.

Scrum now had a chance to focus properly on Tamara. Philip had tried once to save her, but had been thrown into a pile of wooden barrels and knocked unconscious by a guarding zombie henchman. A shot was fired by Blackbeard from the other ship, Tamara dodged it, but slipped and was now gripping onto the horizontal pole which held one of the Pearl's sails. Scrum glanced around desperately, most of Blackbeard's crew had been knocked overboard now. Tamara was now at such a height that to Scrum she looked like a golden dot. This was his chance, as the Quartermasters back was turned, Scrum worked out that he would need to jump from on top of one of the still-upright barrels and plunge his sword through the Quartermasters head. He gulped, not sure if he could pull it off as slick as he had imagined, but Tamara, through all her strength was still gripping onto the pole, unable to fully flip herself back on top of it. The Quartermaster was cooing at her as Scrum crawled behind him quietly, "come on little flower, drop and I promise I'll catch you." His tone seemed to be going from calm to angry, as he began to yell that she was a "no-good whore."

Scrum leapt as high as he could, and plunged his sword through the Quartermasters skull, blood began to pour from the zombie's head and onto Scrum. He looked up, Tamara had now adjusted herself and was back standing, perfectly balanced on the horizontal pole.

The dying Quartermaster stumbled backwards, struggling for air. Those remaining onboard the ship were gazing at Scrum, who pushed the sword deeper before the Quartermaster toppled over the edge of the ship into the water, Scrum still on his back.


	9. Interruptions

Scrum struggled under the water, trying to yank his sword from the Quartermaster's head while holding his breath. The blade was acting as a plughole, and kept the huge zombie alive. He thrashed in pain, and the two of them began to sink further into the ocean; Scrum was quickly losing the ability to hold on to his breath. He had a choice; if he let go an evil zombie would devour him, or he would drown trying to take the sword from his head. Neither seemed particularly appealing.

Then, there was a hand placed over his, Scrum opened his eyes and felt the seawater sting them; a silver blur swept in front of him. The Quartermaster now had him by his legs, dragging him even further down against the force pulling him back up. Scrum felt a large tug, and the sword came loose, remaining in his hand. He gasped desperately for air as he was brought to the surface of the water, Jack called out to him, "Scrummy, we're going to get you out of there!"

There was a screech, and heavy splashing, slugging sounds from the water, the Quartermaster had gripped onto Tamara and as he rose from the water in the darkness, Scrum could see the large split on his head from where the sword had hit. This time, he did not wish to intervene; Tamara could save herself quite easily. It was horrific to watch her being dragged backwards by her hair, the Quartermaster even managed to draw blood from her; but she was far too strong, and far too hungry for human flesh to let him win. Scrum knew that Jack was holding a rope for him to catch hold of, but he remained watching Tamara viciously attacking the slowly dying zombie. "Scrummy, if you don't grab this rope now and bring her with you, the ships going to sail off into the horizon, the anchor is up, get a hold of it now."

Scrum moved forward slightly and tugged on Tamara's arm; she understood, kicking and biting at the Quartermaster, who now floated dead in the water; his throat ripped out. Tamara took the rope first, for she was stronger than Scrum, and could hold on to him far more easily than he could to her at that point. He began to feel queasy as the ship sailed off with them in mid-air, but most of the crew were tugging on the rope to get them back on board.

Scrum collapsed on the deck, exhausted. When he awoke briefly, he saw that Tamara was again fully clothed, and was pushing his hair from his face, "thank you." She told him, the large crowd that surrounded them applauded.

"Where's Blackbeard?"

Philip laughed, "They lifted their anchor before us and headed North, the cowards. I don't think he could face the fact that you killed his favourite zombie!"

"You were so brave!" Tamara pulled him into her, planting kisses over his cheeks and his forehead, though he felt he deserved a little more than that for saving her life, "thank you Scrum, thank you so much!"

For the first time in his life, Scrum felt like the true hero. He had sworn to protect Tamara, and he had done his job well, but she had also saved him. "You jumped," he said, looking directly into her emerald eyes, "you jumped from the mast." She didn't reply but smiled at him so sweetly that Scrum almost lost consciousness again. Tamara had saved him, he would have drowned if it weren't for her, and she would have been sliced to pieces if it weren't for him. "Come on Scrummy, let's get you a drink."

"A banquet, a feast is in order for our newest fighter!" Barbossa called to the crew. "Sleep well this day boys, prepare yourselves to be cleanin' up your own muck after tomorrow night."

"That means," Jack told Philip, Scrum and Tamara as the others cheered, "we're in for a bloody big party."

Scrum was taken to the cabin where he slept until the afternoon, Tamara had stayed on deck with Barbossa and Philip and when Scrum emerged into the daylight, he saw her snoozing on the floor of the deck; Scrum could have sworn she was refraining from a smile as some of the Pearl's crewmembers gazed on, dazzled by her. It was her, of course, who had told him that mermaids never fully slept.

"Blimey," a round-faced man, with grey hair and long sideburns had approached Scrum, "that was a good move you made last night; utmost respect."

Scrum grinned with pride, "thank you," he said shaking the man's hand, "name's Scrum."

"Gibbs." The man responded, giving a firm handshake. Scrum recognised the name from stories that Jack had told him. "Nice to meet you." He said.

"Look out for each other do you, you and that mermaid? What's her name again?"

"Tamara; yeah, sort of I suppose. I had to carry her through a jungle for a few days, you see." Scrum grinned.

"She can jump quite a way, you know. That mast ain't exactly little," he said pointing up at the great height of the sails, "leapt straight off it when you fell into that sea, she did."

Scrum remembered watching her attack the Quartermaster in the water, but his mind was still blurred from where he'd almost collapsed on the deck "she did?"

"Yeah, should have seen the bruises on her; course, she's a mermaid, they cleared right up. The young god-faring lad sorted her leg out."

"Her leg?"

"Stabbed right in the tail she was, but these mermaids can heal themselves like nobody's business, can't they? There was a wound right on the top of her leg, the missionary had a little trouble getting her to stay conscious after all the blood."

Scrum's face was hot; all of the time he had been asleep he could have been tending to the beautiful girl who had saved his life; what had he really done for her anyway? She could have saved herself. And to think of her in a dimly lit cabin, with the man whom she always referred to as 'handsome' bandaging up her wounded leg…Scrum felt rage sear through him, but he controlled himself in front of the friendly stranger.

Even once Tamara had woken up; Scrum did his best to avoid her, and she barely seemed to notice that he was onboard the Pearl. Most of her day was spent talking with Philip on the deck, Scrum stayed below where it was warm and dark.

The day was just ending when he heard the cabin door open, and Tamara's mischievous laughter. She was probably with Philip; Scrum didn't move a muscle, knowing that any moment now he was going to hear or witness the two of them kissing.

But it was Jack and Tamara, not Philip and Tamara. "Where is he?" He heard her say, "there, Scrum!" She bounded up to him, kneeling by his bedside, "how are you feeling?" Relief washed over him as she stroked his forehead, "where have you been all day, it's been all about you and you have hardly been outside! Come on, get up, the crew are beginning to dine and drink."

Scrum no longer felt disheartened, somehow everything she said to him seemed to have truth and meaning in it, though she really cared. He lifted himself from the bed, and was led out of the cabin by Tamara and Jack, who clapped him playfully on the shoulder.

Music was played as the crew _really _began to drink. Scrum watched Tamara with the other crewmembers. Of course, she was naturally flirtatious, as mermaids are. She sat on Gibbs' lap on more than one occasion, teased and laughed with Barbossa, let another crewmember named Jameson carry her on his shoulder and spin her around. There was applause as she danced with Jack, cooing as she whispered closely with Philip, but there was one thing noticeable; no matter what she did, she always sought eye contact with Scrum, which greatly confused him.

"Wonderful, isn't she?" Philip grinned over at Tamara, who was twirling under Gibbs' arm to the applause and music of the crewmembers.

"Quite." Scrum replied, not wanting to give too much away to the missionary; whom he knew liked Tamara just as he did.

"Great fun."  
>"You should go for it, mate."<p>

Philip looked at him, wide-eyed, stunned, "you are joking, aren't you? Scrum, she's beautiful; no amount of treasure compares to a girl like that. Of course, I'm totally fascinated by her, enticed by her in fact, but we have no _feeling _for one another. I'm not the pirate she likes."

"What?" the rum nearly poured out of Scrum's nose he was so astounded by what Philip had just said.

"I mean I'm not the one she wants."

Scrum at this stage was becoming tipsy, "but you're handsome and that, and you're all mysterious and brooding and stuff that women like."

"Put it this way Scrum; I was knocked unconscious and cut my head open landing in a pile of wooden barrels last night, it took her a long while to notice where I'd even gone."

Scrum sipped from his glass bottle, listening carefully to Philip's every word over the music and cheering crew. The missionary continued, "you were thrown overboard, and she dived from the mast of a ship, through the air to save you; Jack said, she didn't even have to think about it. She saw you fall and instinctively, she jumped."

Scrum glanced sideways, "meaning what?"

"Meaning that she wasn't prepared to see you hurt. You're a good man, Scrum, and Tamara sees that as much as I do. You're telling me to go for it? You must be blind." He patted Scrum on the back before moving forwards to dance with Tamara.

Scrum watched them; Tamara looked straight into Philip's eyes, laughing and he held her close to him as they danced around the room. But this time, he didn't feel jealous of Philip, he didn't want to push him out of the way or tell him to get away from his mermaid; after what Philip had just told him, he didn't need to. Tamara had chosen her preference already.

Tamara sat on the upper deck, gazing out onto the horizon. It was still dark outside, the breeze was light and warm for they still sailed the hot Caribbean seas. "That's where you disappeared to!" Scrum said, emerging from the cabin below, where slower music had begun to play.

"What's going on in there?" Tamara asked, a bottle of rum in her hand.

"Bloody hell, it's all getting a tad emotional now; tales of childhoods and lost loves."

Tamara smiled kindly, "have you ever lost a love?"

"Nah, never knew my mum, me dad died when I was twelve though; he was my rock, so that was hard to deal with."

"How did he die?"

"Hung for piracy. Got caught tryin' to steal a ship from the British. After he died, I snuck onto the next boat for Port Royal, he always promised that's where we would end up, and he never liked to break his promises. So that's where I went, didn't want him feelin' like he'd let me down, 'cause he never did." Scrum stared at the floor, aware that Tamara was gazing at him sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Scrum, that must have been horrible for you. He would have been proud of you, I'm sure."

"Oi, don't you start getting all sentimental with me either, you can't even cry."

"I can, it's just difficult. I'm sure if I lost a love, then that would make me shed at least one tear."

"Can mermaids love?" Scrum looked up at her, now curious; and now feeling far more sober in her company.

"Of course we can."

"Have you ever loved someone?"

"I'm not sure." She crinkled her nose sweetly, leaning back against the back wall of the ship, "have you?"

"I think so." He replied, but she ignored him and turned to the sea. Scrum moved to stand next to her, glancing sideways at her beautiful profile; even in the dark she was breathtaking.

"Can I ask you something?" He said.

"Anything."

"Why did you jump into the water last night?"

"To save you from that vile henchman of Blackbeard's." She said bluntly, smiling at him though it were the most obvious reason in the world.

"Then answer me this," Scrum's mind was now piecing parts together of their encounter so far, "why is it that when allowed into water, you haven't yet escaped? You could have fled last night, but you saved me and stayed."

"I promised Jack that I would take him to the Fountain of Youth; I have kept my word."

Scrum glared playfully at her, before letting her continue, "and I wanted to stay with you."

"Correct answer. Why exactly?" His heart was now pumping; underneath his cocky exterior, he was suppressing the need to smother her with kisses and was sure she could see straight through his cover.

"You're just different. To see you die would have hurt me; and so last night I saved you."

"I'm glad you did," he looked at her; she was gazing straight at him, biting nervously on her lower lip. Scrum too, was beginning to feel hot. She was so beautiful, so impossibly beautiful.

"I do believe that I've offered you a kiss before." Tamara said. Scrum looked at her hair, which tumbled over her shoulders in those perfect loose ringlets, to her mouth, so wonderfully shaped.

"But you never do." He said, downtrodden.

"And that upsets you?"

"A bit." He admitted, " I always thought you would have kissed Philip before me."

"Philip, why?" She looked amused at his assumption.

"Because he's handsome and a lot smarter than I am."

"You think you aren't handsome?"

Scrum scoffed, "not in comparison to him I'm bloody not."

"But who was it that carried me through the jungle?" She said, leaning towards him slightly, "and kept me company, and made me smile even when I was afraid."

She took Scrum's hand, and put it around her waist; she herself had her arms wrapped delicately around his neck. "You doubt yourself too much, Scrum." She bit down on her lower lip again, this time seductively, "I owe you _a lot _for all you have done for me." She was beginning to pull his head closer, Scrum's heartbeat increased, and then…

"Where are you, I mean she's not-" Jack crawled drunkenly from the cabin, causing Tamara to drop her hold over Scrum; who now felt like kicking Jack overboard. How often was it that a mermaid was going to tell him that she had feelings for him? "Ah!" Jack said, walking sluggishly over, clapping a hand on Scrum's shoulder, "now we, Sir and Madam," he belched inwardly before looking at Tamara, "you, you are beautiful."

"Thank you, Jack." Tamara looked angry.

"I mean really, the most beautiful thing ever!" He shouted the word 'ever', "you're alright love, savvy? Hello Scrummy." Jack smiled drunkenly at them, not noticing that the two of them were highly unimpressed at his interruption, especially Scrum.

With that, Jack collapsed on to the floor; clearly having had far too much to drink. "Well Jack," said Tamara, kneeling down to pick him up off the deck, "you've truly outdone yourself." She began to drag him back down to the cabin.

"Wait," Scrum said after her, throwing one of the now-passed-out Jack's arms over his shoulder. He gazed hopefully at the mermaid, whose face was now completely washed with irritation. That was just Scrum's luck; about to kiss a mermaid, who he had genuine feelings for, and it gets interrupted. "What?" She said, as the two of them helped Jack into his bed.

Scrum didn't really know what he wanted to say to her. "Forget about it," Tamara said quietly, gazing up at him, "goodnight." And with that she sauntered towards her space in the cabin, right next to where Scrum's was. As he lay down next to her, she turned away from him and he was faced with her mass of golden hair. He felt both upset that their moment had been ruined, and angry with Jack for interrupting it. But all suddenly became forgiven, as Tamara – without turning around or saying a word, moved her arm and took hold of Scrum's hand; she kissed it lightly, and they fell asleep there with their fingers interlocked.


	10. The British

It was nearly two weeks on and that time had flown by. Scrum and Tamara were in constant proximity of one another, yet for the twelve days that had past; they hadn't been left alone together once. Scrum was beginning to wonder if the others had plotted some sort of conspiracy.

The Black Pearl was now sailing the coast of southern Brazil. For the time that had past since the evening of heavy drinking and cheerful music, Scrum had felt himself falling more and more under Tamara's spell, as though he weren't already bewitched by her enough. They stole glances at one another where they could, with Tamara always looking away first. She remained close with Philip, a friendship of which Scrum's jealousy had returned, though not as severely as it had previously been.

He was quite sure now, that he was besotted with the mermaid and could only hope that she truly had some feeling towards him. Sometimes he would look back on that night as a blur, the night that she had told him (in more words than he had found necessary) that really, she _liked _him. But she was, nevertheless, a mermaid. Teasing men, luring and seducing them until they lost their minds was what she had an innate drive for. Some of the Pearl's crewmembers had brought this fact up over dinners, which Tamara usually took with Barbossa, who had a keen likeness for her. Scrum had shrugged it off, and told himself that they were merely jealous of the bizarre bond he had formed with the mermaid.

Jack took a short telescope from his jacket pocket, and closed in on the ship sailing behind them in the distance. Tamara was seated with Scrum on a small table set and chairs, which had been set out on the starboard side of the ship. She was examining one of his hands - which were much larger than hers, and had jokingly insisted on reading his palm.

The two of them laughed as she attempted this, and compared the size of his paw-like hands to her dainty ones, ignoring Jack and Gibbs' nearby presence. The mermaid continued to hold Scrum's hand ever so gently in her own over the table, lightly tickling part of it with her fingers. "That feels nice." Scrum told her, to which she smiled, still staring intently at his hand. He bridled in his chair a little when she moved her fingers down to lightly brush his exposed wrist and forearm.

"Do you want me to stop?" she asked him, noticing his sudden slight flinch.

"No."

"You have nice arms," Tamara pointed out, "I like this part here." She concentrated her fingers on the underside of his forearm.

"Why's that?"

"It's just a nice part of a man to look at. Forearms are very attractive."

"Does it matter if you find sailors attractive, though? Won't you just eat them anyway?"

"We like our food to be presented beautifully too, you know."

Scrum laughed nervously as the mermaid shot him an intense look, "Good thing I'm a scruffy kind of guy then, ain't it?"

"You? To be fair Scrum, the first time we met I had fully intended to -" but she stopped mid-sentence, unable to finish.

"Kill me?" Scrum voiced her thoughts.

"Yes," she spoke quietly, "but that thought doesn't run through my mind anymore…just so you know."

At that moment, Jack called out to the crew who were either lounging about the deck, or hoisting the sails, "British navy!"

Tamara shot up from her seat, letting Scrum's hand back onto the table. "Are you sure?" She asked, snatching Jack's telescope from his grasp.

"Quite sure."

"Do you think they're following us?"

"Oh yes." Jack stroked his short beard, "the British are always looking for a new pirate to hang, draw and quarter."

Gibbs gave a worried look, "I didn't know they still did that…"

"You know what they'll do if they see me, don't you Jack?"

"What's that love, fall head over heels and propose?"

Tamara continued exasperated, "they'll kill me. The British are worse an enemy to mermaids than a Kraken would be! The Naval Forces are brutal in killing off mermaids."

"Well, can you blame them?"

"You listen to me, Sparrow," Tamara stood warningly close to Jack, her eyes fixed angrily on his, "we go about our business as you go about yours. You tread mermaid waters and you're ours. They," she pointed at the distant British ship, "will kill our kind for the sake of it; not solely for the protection of their sailors."

"They won't be taking you anywhere, don't you worry about that." Barbossa could be heard approaching, his wooden leg knocking the hollow floor; he was with Philip, who stopped to gaze out at the grand-looking vessel in the distance. Scrum now stood too, moving close to Tamara as she spoke, "what are we going to do, then?"

Barbossa took the telescope, "just believe me when I tell you, missy, you'll be stayin' with us."

The ship's anchor was lowered the following day outside a gigantic, dark-looking cove on the coastline. All of the crew piled into longboats; Tamara sharing with Barbossa and Philip while Scrum shared with Mallot and various others. He himself didn't know Barbossa's exact plan of action, all he knew was that Tamara had been requested to Barbossa's company for most of the previous evening along with Philip, whom was highly trusted by the Captain for, Scrum assumed, what was due to his religious beliefs and values.

The evening was hot, but growing ever darker. "Do you reckon Barbossa's gonna hand her over to 'em?" Mallot asked the others as they rowed towards the mouth of the cove.

"Surely he can't," a well-spoken yet ragged man named Duncan piped up, "Barbossa wants to get to the fountain of youth. He won't let her go for Blackbeard, so he won't let her go for the British navy."

"Oi," said another pirate, Leech, who entirely lived up to his name, "do you reckon she does the old captain _favours_?"

"'Ow d'you mean favours?" said Mallot.

"I mean, you don't think they spend all that time in 'is quarters just chattin' away do you, bit weird really, isn't it? I think it's likely she gives him something in return for keepin' 'er fed."

"Leech, don't be ridiculous." Scrum was glad that Duncan stepped up to defend Tamara, because if he had opened his mouth then, he may have regretted it. Duncan continued, "she's a mermaid, one of the most graceful creatures known to mankind; not a common whore."

"Oh she's a class act, I ain't sayin' she's not but -"

"But nothing, Leech. You saw what kind of a fight she can put up; we must show her the utmost respect, for she carries with her the protection of the gods."

Leech looked up at the sky awkwardly, as though suddenly realising who he had insulted. Scrum eventually unclenched his jaw, remembering that he should be more worried about Tamara's safety than the stupidity of the men who lusted after her.

"Do you really think they'll kill you?" Scrum asked her, as they sat inside the cove after all clambering from the longboats. Barbossa had allowed Tamara into the water, so long as Scrum kept an eye on her. How could he not have done? She shimmered so wonderfully in the electric blue ocean, it would have been difficult to keep an eye _off _of her.

"They will if they can, but that isn't going to happen. We just need to shake them off while we've got the chance," she dropped her voice into a low whisper, more confident now, "because if they follow us any further then we're all in for it."

The rest of the crew at this point were all hidden away, tucked into corners of the cove, or behind rocks. Nobody knew how long they would wait there for until the British naval ships arrived, but Barbossa was convinced that they were going to be followed no matter how long it took. It was entirely down to Scrum to keep Tamara entertained, so he began to discuss music, for which she showed a particular enthusiasm. They waited for at least two hours; being scolded more than once by Barbossa for laughing too loudly; their sniggers echoed off the walls of the cave. Tamara spent her time in the water, leaning against the rock on which Scrum knelt. Upon the first sign of movement, Tamara panicked; it was easy enough for a person to pick up on sounds in the vast cave but as a mermaid, Tamara knew exactly what was coming. "Go, Scrum!" She whispered frantically pushing him away from her. From where he turned, the cave looked empty, even though there were pirates behind every rock and in every nook of the cave, prepared to fight on Barbossa's signal. Jack dragged Scrum by his sleeve to where he and Gibbs hid, where there was a perfect view out into the cave.

Longboats began silently to pile in through the caves entrance, filled with navy men. "Lads, I don't think we're alone." One indistinguishable sailor said, after a faint humming sound echoed the walls. All of them looked nervous, yet all of them came prepared for something. Scrum watched Tamara slip into the water, making a tiny splashing sound. "Can it be?" Another voice sounded, as the man whom it belonged to now pointed at another, smaller rock, on which Tamara had perched herself. "It's a mermaid." Tamara stared at them bemused. One man, clearly the ship's captain stood up in the longboat, and bowed his head at her, unsure of quite what to say. "What is it that you seek, captain?" Asked Tamara, leaning back on her rock.

The sailors all gaped in awe of her haunting yet intriguing tone, and the silver flash of her tail. "A pirate ship, miss. Do you know of the Black Pearl?"

"The Black Pearl?" Tamara smirked, before diving into the water; causing a two-second panic until she emerged again, this time leaning on the edge of the longboat in which the captain sat. "Oh my god." Scrum heard one sailor mutter, "she's beautiful." There were others who were now leaning close to her, trying to get a proper look; and she smiled sweetly at all of them.

"Is it a pretty ship?" Tamara asked the Captain, who was smiling weakly at her.

"Not as notable as ours, madam, I assure you."

"Do you search for pirates? There are none here; there lies nothing but ghost ships."

"We hear the Pearl was one once." A round-faced sailor chipped in, trying to grab Tamara's attention.

"It is pirates we seek, yes. We must remove them from the seas, you understand. Vile beings, they are."

She was smiling at him suggestively before she began to sing 'The Faithful Sailor Boy'. Scrum felt glad that she hadn't used My Jolly Sailor Bold; he felt that song was reserved for him only. "At last he pressed her to his heart and whispered in her ear, farewell, farewell, my own true love; this parting gives me pain…" All became entranced in her song; Gibbs was wiping tears from his eyes as she chanted her beautiful melody. The ships Captain was her target, and he had certainly made himself closest to her. Scrum felt as though someone had stabbed him through the stomach when he saw her lean up and wrap her arms around the young captain's neck. He took one of her hands from his shoulder and gently caressed it as others looked on, completely captivated by her sheer beauty. All Scrum had to do was wait for the signal, and the men would be off to attack the navy sailors; but Tamara seemed intent on teasing them further, moving on from the captain and gently biting the finger of a middle-aged sailor in the same longboat. Scrum felt like he had waited for an hour just watching her, wishing it were him who had her full focus once again. Jack gave Scrum's shoulder a light squeeze, both as a comfort and a warning. It took just one shot for chaos to ensue.

Barbossa fired on the captain, sending a bullet straight through his forehead and his body toppling into the water. Tamara didn't hesitate in dragging the closest sailors into the sea with her.

The naval sailors began to shoot back from their boats, yet their focus was awry due to their fear of Tamara. Men were yelling, "kill the mermaid; get the mermaid first!"

Scrum, who had run straight for those who were climbing on the rocks, was fighting his own battle against two naval sailors. A piercing shriek followed by loud hissing came from Tamara, who was being dragged from the water by a good eight sailors; some of whom had her by her hair, others carried her tail. 'Oh no you don't' thought Scrum, diving out of his two enemies' way so that he could get to his mermaid. Jack and Leech had also taken it upon themselves to save her, while the others shook off the well-equipped navy men. "Come on, Scrummy!" Jack called, leaping in to the water. Tamara threw one of her captors overboard, and his flying body narrowly missed landing on Jack's head. Scrum leapt from the edge of a rock, into the sea towards her.

The crew of the Black Pearl drove away the remaining members of the British naval ship; leaving behind the bodies of the dishonoured dead. "No respect," said Barbossa as they clambered into their own longboats to reapproach the Pearl, "I'd always bring mine back, no matter what."

Though the main focus was on the wounded of their own; the British navy had put up a fearsome fight before their escape, and Scrum had been slashed with a sword, cutting through his shoulder; the deep wound was causing him to bleed non-stop. Tamara had insisted on being in his boat along with Philip, Jack and Barbossa; and she leant over him, trying desperately to put pressure on the open cut, which was being temporarily bandaged by Philip's shirt.

Scrum groaned loudly in pain as he leant back against Tamara, who had covered herself with his jacket. She didn't seem to care that his blood was dripping over her, she remained far more anxious for Scrum; who was gritting his teeth as well as he could through the searing pain in his shoulder.

The full crew made it back to the ship, and bandaged one another carefully. Philip and Gibbs threw Scrums arms around them, and hoisted him down to the dank, empty cabin, closely followed by the anxious Tamara, who had been thrown a bottle of gin to use as antiseptic. Philip rushed immediately to get proper bandages.

"Alright, Scrum," Gibbs said sympathetically, "Barbossa needs us to check the others, you two are gunna be fine, aye?"

"Aye." Scrum gasped. Philip gave him a worried look before ascending to the upper deck where at least another twelve of the crew lay wounded and bleeding. Tamara set to work immediately after throwing Scrum's shirt (which was far less blood-stained than Philip's) over her. She gently removed Philips shirt from Scrum's shoulder. The drying, congealed blood stuck to him a little, and he shuddered as she worked to peel it off carefully. Scrum smiled weakly at the mermaid, as she gave him a knowing glance and softly stroked his cheek. She ripped the bandages with her teeth.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Scrum asked.

"Not as much as that probably does," she pointed to his gaping wound, which still bled heavily, "now you'll have to hold still while I stitch it."

"Woah, hang on, what? Tamara, wait, OW!" He yelped in pain as she began to dab at his wound with a gin-soaked cloth.

"Don't be a coward." Her tone was stern.

Scrum held his breath, anxiously watching her place a thick thread through the hole of a needle. The alcohol hadn't numbed him one bit, even as she ordered him to drink the remaining spirit. If it took a lot for him to get drunk, it was certainly going to take a lot for him to feel completely anaesthetized. As she stitched him up, he couldn't help but wince. "That bloody hurts!"

"Who said it wasn't going to?"

"Don't you mermaids have healing powers or something?"

"No." Her stern voice remained, "we can only heal ourselves when wounded. It does not do for mermaids to help others."

"You're helping me, OW! Now…"

"I know, but that's because unlike other mermaids, I care."

Scrum paused to think about what she had just said; she was right, she was different to the others, she did care. He shut his mouth, thinking it better to appreciate that she was at least being as gentle as she could.

"You know, I care too…" Scrum said after a pregnant pause.

"I know that." She said, now more softly, "but that isn't my concern right now. My concern is stopping this thing getting infected. After all, you don't want me to have to bite it off."

He tried to laugh, but it hurt as he was now positively aching all over. "Keep still, Scrum, I'm nearly finished."

"That was quick."

"We mermaids are."

Scrum felt relieved when she put down the needle in front of him, after threading a knot in the stitching so that it wouldn't come loose. "Lift your arm, it will hurt, but lift it."

Scrum squeezed the palm of his hand tightly, grimacing through the pain while Tamara wrapped a bandage tightly around it. "Can I have my shirt back, are we done now?"

"Almost," Tamara replied.

He felt her running her fingers softly up and down his arm, giving him goosebumps. His heart raced as she tenderly kissed the unbandaged part of his shoulder, right by his neck. Tamara stopped tickling his arm, and left her hand placed gently on it as she began to plant light kisses up his neck to his jawline. Scrum could hardly believe this was happening, surely he must have been imagining it; surely she wasn't really there, was she?

Around his good shoulder, she placed her arm and kissed his neck more firmly this time, but still gently enough. Scrum felt his breathing rate increase, and the butterflies in his stomach flitting around crazily as she nibbled gently on his earlobe. He was desperate to turn around, yet afraid that if he did, she wouldn't really be there. He was sure this was all in his imagination.

But then she moved around to face him, his shirt loosely buttoned around her. She sank down to her knees in front of him, putting a cool hand on his cheek while she gazed directly into his eyes. "You're so beautiful." He said breathlessly.

Tamara smiled at him before pulling his head down, so that her lips lightly brushed his. 'This is not real,' he told himself, 'Scrum you're imagining it.'

The mermaid kissed him ever so lightly, nibbling gently on his lower lip before pulling his head down into a passionate kiss. Fully confident that this now, was real, Scrum wrapped his good arm around her waist to pull her towards him as she ran one hand along the back of his neck, the other rested gently on his leg. Scrum now responded with such enthusiasm that he nearly lifted her up completely; but she did not pull away from him, and he didn't want her to. He never wanted to let go of her, he was sure of that now and when she did break away from him, he tightened his hold around her. Tamara smiled as she kissed him lightly on the lips once again. "Come on, we need to let the others know you haven't blacked out."

"If you kiss me again, I think I might."

"Then I shouldn't, even if I want to."

Scrum sighed heavily, surer that he wanted her more than a million gold. Tamara stood, craning her neck to look for something. "Ah!" She said, running to find him another white shirt, which lay on Jack's bed. "Here you are."

"You're a saint." Scrum said as she helped him to get the sleeve over his wounded right arm.

She pulled him up from the stool on which he had sat, standing on her tip-toes to kiss him again. Taking him by the hand, Tamara led him towards the cabin door, and as she opened it, sunlight poured in gloriously; the air smelled fresh.

"Tamara…" Scrum tugged her back slightly as she began to walk up the stairs, desperate to be alone with her. She turned to him, "I know." She said gently, kissing him just one last time before taking him to the upper deck.


	11. An Unknown Agreement

From that point on, Scrum wanted to kiss her all the time; but she didn't move for him again, even if they were alone together. Roughly one week on and they were sailing down the coastline of Argentina (Jack had told them, and his predictions were usually accurate.)

Scrum had debated asking her what the matter was, but he thought better than to do so. Maybe she had just been trying to make him feel better; yes, that was probably it. Why would she have feelings for him anyway? And not only that, but since the two of them had kissed, she had become increasingly closer to Jack Sparrow; who couldn't help rubbing it a little in everyone else's face. Scrum spent the next couple of weeks completely confused by her; she was avoidant and dismissive, preferring to be alone than around him. It was unusual behaviour in Scrum's view. But still, when he did manage to speak to her he felt exactly the same. To him, she was beautiful and wonderful and brave; but he kept his views entirely to himself, feeling downtrodden by her.

Philip had mentioned to him the sudden distance; even Barbossa had noticed and made a quip about it.

'Don't think about it.' Scrum told himself, 'mermaids lead men on to the death; you should never have trusted her.'

"Hello." Said Tamara, gliding gracefully over to where Scrum was sat, smoking a pipe on the lower deck.

"Alright?" He said, trying to ignore her.

"Okay. Except that I haven't spoken to you in a while."

Scrum guffawed, "you've been bloody ignoring me."

"Yes."

"What?"

"Nothing." Said Tamara, looking straight ahead of her.

"You're so confusing and…strange I think is the appropriate word." Scrum told her before taking a puff of his tabacco pipe.

Tamara looked disapprovingly at him. "Oh come on," he said, "when do you care about smoking?"

"It's not about the smoking, it's about you."

"Well what have I done? I notice you've been all buddy buddy with Jack recently."

She laughed, "he's safe."

"You must be jokin'." Said Scrum. Tamara smiled at him; giving him a case of the butterflies, as her grins always did. "So what's the matter then, why you been acting all off?"

"I don't know. Sorry." She said matter-of-factly.

"Apology accepted."

"Good."

"Good."

The two of them looked at each other, both trying not to crack a smile; but after just seconds Scrum broke and beamed at her. Her large green eyes glinted, and she was glaring at him playfully; a smirk on her face. 'Don't get your hopes up.' Scrum told himself, as he noticed Tamara gaze momentarily at his mouth, though wishing to kiss him.

Then, she leant her head on his shoulder so delicately that, despite her insincere tone, Scrum could tell that she really meant her apology. She was willing to come closer to him again; for a few days at least.

Tamara nuzzled her face against his neck, "you're so comfortable." She said.

"Thank you." Scrum laughed. 'I love you.' He was thinking; hoping that in some way she would be able to hear his thoughts. 'I love you; I'm pretty sure I love her. I must love her.' His mind trailed.

When Jack came around the corner, reading his compass, Tamara shot up; but as she walked up the deck, to where Barbossa stood at the ship's wheel, she looked back at Scrum, giving him a weak smile.

That night, Scrum awoke in the early hours to a scream and hissing. Tamara had taken her place next to him that night, but when he opened his eyes, she wasn't there. Everyone in the cabin had risen in a split second; and sudden noise filled the room as they all ran to the upper deck to see what the commotion was. Standing on Barbossa's overlooking balcony stood Tamara, her head tipped backwards and behind her, stood Blackbeard's largest henchman whom Scrum had not yet seen; he was far bigger than the Quartermaster had been, and wider too. He looked like a giant compared to the tiny mermaid; who's face was as cold as stone, jaw clenched hard as he pulled her hair. Scrum's stomach began to churn, his face reddened as he watched the huge zombie bend his head down, and lick Tamara's neck and face. As she struggled momentarily, Blackbeard emerged from Barbossa's door with Angelica, looking down on them all with a smirk across his face. All of the pirates had their swords at the ready, besides Jack and Philip whose faces were of shock. Tamara was flinching as the huge 'mans' tongue ran up and down her neck. How had none of them noticed the Queen Anne's Revenge approaching? Scrum felt so stupid for not seeing it. But it had almost appeared from nowhere at all.

"Hello, Scrum, Philip." Barbossa nodded his head in their direction as he descended the stairs; ordering his zombie to follow. Scrum's anger soared as he watched Tamara be dragged down the staircase, hissing angrily as she was so. "Let me go!" She cried, scratching at the zombie's hand. Though she had been able to defeat the Quartermaster with ease; for she was stronger than Scrum had given her credit, this man was positively gigantic, and she seemed to be a little weaker in her human form than she was in the water. His grip upon her was tight; she was in no way getting away from him.

"How did you get here? Where is Barbossa?" Philip drew his sword as Blackbeard approached.

"Your new captain is alive, believe me. Gunner!" He called, and Gunner emerged from the same balcony doors, holding a pistol to Barbossa's head.

"Ah," said Blackbeard, glancing at Jack, "Sparrow…How we have missed you."

"Lovely to hear." Jack said, on his guard, though glaring at Angelica.

"What do you want?" Philip spat.

"The little treasure here." Blackbeard stroked Tamara's soft cheek as the remaining crew of the Queen Anne's Revenge emerged onto their deck, all with pistols aimed at their rival crew.

"You can't have her." Scrum piped up, pointing his sword at Blackbeard, who laughed.

"Why's that, sailor? Oh…" There was a pause. Scrum had been looking desperately at Tamara, who was in turn, gazing at him fearfully. "So you care for her…you fancy her." Blackbeard laughed, as did Gunner and the newly recruited zombie. He pointed an accusing finger at Scrum, "Do not deny what is clear to my eyes," looking down at Tamara he continued, "Question is…does she fancy you?"

Tamara was looking straight at Scrum; her eyes were fierce as the zombie yanked her hair. "Do you, little beauty?" Blackbeard turned on her, running the blunt edge of his sword up and down her neck, "do you feel for the poor, failed pirate?"

She didn't answer and Blackbeard turned his sword in his hand, pointing the edge of the blade at her throat. "Cry for us, won't you? Just shed one tear. Or do you remain fearless and brave, can you let down your own kind?"

Scrum gave her a pleading look. 'Don't cry,' he thought 'please, don't cry, don't let them win.'

Everyone was tense, ready to strike to protect what was theirs; what they had all grown to want – the mermaid. She was glaring at Blackbeard, who clucked his tongue, "do you love this sailor, missy? Does he make you feel things that mermaids should never feel? By God," he said after a pause, "she doesn't. And killing him would be no matter to you would it?" Blackbeard turned around to eye Scrum.

"Shall I cut him through his heart; for surely he would wish you to have it."

Scrum gulped.

"You will not lay a finger on him." Tamara warned.

"So it is him?" Blackbeard was bemused, "or is it the missionary; our handsome young scholar here?"

"He is not yours anymore, he belongs to the Pearl."

"And I suppose you do too?"

"I belong to Calypso." Said Tamara.

Blackbeard eyed her up and down, her delicate frame firmly held by the dark-skinned, tattooed zombie.

"Will your fair goddess protect you when I bring you to the Revenge? For my crew desire what all men desire; and you are a little piece of perfection, aren't you?" He was leaning close to her, leering suggestively. "Won't you let them touch you, will that make you sad? If I take you from your jolly sailor bold, and give you to my loyal, loyal followers. Will that hurt, I wonder; to know that you will never again see this pitiful fellow you seem to desire." Blackbeard looked back at Scrum, "what a pathetic excuse for a pirate. How can you harbour anything for this portly little fellow, this scum, this vermin. You can do better than that. Ah, but you yourself are a disappointment; how can a mermaid feel love? Do you love him?" He pressed her again.

"'Tis you are vermin."

"Me? Oh, darling, if it weren't for its beauty, I would slice your face off."

Tamara looked at Scrum again; and then at Barbossa (who Scrum was sure, nodded).

"All we ask, Barbossa," Blackbeard said, "is for the mermaid. You keep your foul wretches, keep them all. We ask for the creature. And the creature is what we shall leave with."

Barbossa agreed on the condition that they would not harm her in front of the crew. "Loosen your grip." Blackbeard told his zombie, fairly agreeing to Barbossa's request, "you're going to choke the vile thing before she makes it onto the ship."

Tamara gazed pitifully at Scrum, "may I?" she asked for Blackbeard's permission to near him, but before he answered she had already moved. She glanced at Jack, then Philip, then Barbossa, before taking hold of Scrum's hand.

He now had a tear in his eye; but blinked it back, for he didn't wish to seem weak in front of her _or _Blackbeard. Tamara stroked his face. "This is it." She told him.

He shook his head, "no."

She smiled, "yes." Pulling him close to her, she whispered in his ear; Blackbeard still keeping a careful watch. "I do not wish you to fight here; kiss me, and I will take you to Calypso. If you let me go, then I shall never see you again."

Scrum was confused, but he knew what he wanted to do, even if the ins and outs of what she was trying to say had not been explained. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly, in front of everybody. He could feel their eyes on him, even though his were closed. When she pulled away, there was merely a second's pause. "Now." Said Tamara, "run."

And at that moment, she had him by the hand, and was sprinting with him to the edge of the ship. Scrum barely had time to think about the sudden commotion left behind, men yelling war cries, swords clashing together before he was pulled over the side of the boat, tumbling into the black sea below. As he plunged deeper, still holding Tamara's hand, he felt no trouble with breathing. She was pulling him along, swimming speedily through the water. "Open your eyes." He heard her say.

What he saw was perfectly clear, though they were open in daylight. The ocean was beautiful, and warm; Scrum hardly gave himself time to blink. Then he remembered, 'a mermaids kiss can save a man from drowning.' And he was most definitely not about to drown.

Tamara swam with him behind her at an extreme speed for at least twenty minutes until they reached shore. Once the water had become shallow, she rose up out of it. Scrum looked around; there was no sign of ships or battle, or any other human life around them. "What the bloody hell just happened?" Scrum was exhausted now.

"We just saved everybody's lives."

"We did?"

"Yes. And we will go back to them." She said as the two of them bobbed up and down in the water, lightly carried by the current, "the crew will meet us in Comodoro Rivadavia…that's in Southern Argentina." She smiled at Scrum's baffled expression. "Just trust me."

"Tamara, I - " but she kissed him before he could finish; and he didn't resist as her hands gently held his face.

"I was never going to leave you."

Scrum was in complete disbelief, but if there was a heaven, this was certainly his idea of it. Blackbeard had been right, he was pitiful and he was poor and stupid and all of those things; but this perfect being in front of him, whom he trusted implicitly despite her nature, had given his life a purpose. She protected him as he would for her, even though he thought she would do a far better job of the former.

"We must go to Calypso. The shore is a little way from here," she said, her arms resting around his neck, "she will protect us until we need leave."

"And when do we leave?"

"A couple of days; trust me, Barbossa knows what to do, he is an intelligent man despite his conduct. They will reach land before we do, and make way for more recruits which are set to meet Jack in the town."

"But the battle?"

"The crew of the Pearl have granted over them Calypso's protection. We need not worry about their safety, all we are to care about is meeting them once Calypso has given us refuge. Now come." She took his hand underwater, "we cannot be late for the goddess."


	12. Calypso's Angel

Tamara led Scrum to the shore. "Give me your jacket." She said, holding out her hand to take it. He handed it to her and she threw it over herself before exiting the water, where her human legs reappeared. "Come on." She began to lead him up the beach.

For what Scrum was sure must have been hours later, Tamara walked ahead of him across sand, up hills, through trees. Scrum was exhausted. His wet clothes had weighed him down for half of the way, "how far away is this place, sorry?"

"Not far." Tamara walked briskly in front.

"You said that about ten hours ago."

"Actually, I said that about ten minutes ago," she corrected him, not stopping to look back, "if it had been ten hours, there would be daylight by now."

"Well you're bloody lucky it's not 'cause I'd have fainted from the heat by now and you'd be carrying me."

She snorted, "I most definitely wouldn't."

Scrum was too tired to retort with something witty. 'How does she march ahead so fast?' He thought, stumbling along behind her. At this point, he was starving, and highly doubted that Calypso would be welcoming enough to offer them good food and a nice place to sleep.

"Oi," Scrum said breathlessly as Tamara stepped over a fallen tree trunk, "what's she like, this Calypso?"

"Oh, she's wonderful."  
>"Is she a mermaid?"<p>

"No; but she is the goddess of our kind. A divine being of sorts."

"But is she nice?"

"Positively," said Tamara, nearly shouting as Scrum was so far behind her, "she is a very hospitable goddess, a very kind goddess."

This made Scrum feel a little better; at least she wasn't going to have a fit when she saw him saunter up to her house. "How far away are we now?" He asked the mermaid, who was pushing her way through thick plant life.

"It's there." She stopped, waiting for Scrum to catch up. Once he had, she pointed down a short hill. They were standing over a beach; where a single hut lay a short distance from them.

"Thank God." Scrum muttered, clutching his sides in an attempt to lessen the pain of his stitch. His wounded shoulder too, was hurting, for it had not yet healed entirely.

When they arrived at the hut, there was a woman sitting outside on the decking. She was dark-skinned, and her hair fell in dreadlocks. In the dim candlelight, Scrum could see that she wore black make-up over her face, in dotted lines underneath her eyes and along her cheekbones.

"Calypso." Tamara bowed her head in respect, as the goddess turned her head slowly and stood to approach Tamara; not once looking at Scrum. He had moved away slightly, not seeing fit to involve himself in the meeting of a mermaid and her goddess. Calypso lifted Tamara's chin lightly, and looked directly into her eyes.

"Tamara." Said Calypso, her accent was thick West-Indian, "you've come…And still you grow more beautiful."

"Thank you, Calypso."

Calypso kissed Tamara on the forehead, before the two women embraced each other. "And who be that?" Calypso nodded in Scrum's direction.

"A pirate, under the protection of Barbossa and Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Ah, Jack. How be Jack?"

"Very well."

"If it is hospitality you seek from me, I give it." She held her arm out in the direction of the open door to her mud hut. It looked cosy, Scrum thought, even if it was a little bit all over the place. From a goddess he had expected golden gates and clouds as pillows, but instead he found an open, dimly lit and warm space; jars took up the walls and straw lay on the ground beneath them. Calypso handed them both cups of steaming hot liquid, which Scrum thanked her for graciously. To his delight, she grinned at him.

Sitting on the floor, Calypso urged her guests to join her. "So the fountain of youth is what you all seek."

"It is the wish of Blackbeard and Barbossa to find it, but only one may use it."

"Aye." Calypso sipped her drink before directing a glance at Scrum, "and where be he from? Blackbeard or Barbossa?"

"Originally Blackbeard, but now Barbossa." Scrum explained.

"You mean you go wherever the gold is?" Calypso curved her lips into a playfully smile, nodding her head in Tamara's direction.

"You could say that."

"Aye, well she be gold, pirate."

Scrum looked at Tamara, who was smiling softly into her cup. The liquid inside tasted of honey and lavender, and had actually begun to fill Scrum's stomach considerably.

"Be it Blackbeard give you them bruises on your arms?" Calypso suddenly gripped Tamara's thin left arm, and examined it carefully. Tamara nodded, and Calypso's face contorted into rage.

"Who be him to hurt a mermaid? They don't understand what you are, and you be a good girl not showin' them just what you do."

Scrum was a little confused as to what she meant, but brushed it off lightly. "Them hurt you, princess?"

"They tried." Tamara smirked.

"You precious girl." Calypso reached out a hand and cupped Tamara's face before looking at Scrum, "she be me most loyal mermaid, this princess; she be as sweet as honey, brave as a lion, stronger than a rhino but she be my angel."

Scrum had already guessed that Tamara was somewhat a favourite with the sea goddess, and he was glad for it; he had heard that to be in Calypso's wrath was worse than a thousand painful deaths.

"We will go to Comodoro Rivadavia in just a few days, but my companion is exhausted Calypso, you understand."

"Aye." Calypso nodded, eyeing Scrum, "let 'im sleep."

Scrum awoke late that afternoon, the sun still shone brightly and was entering Calypso's home. There was a straw bunk in the mud hut, and Scrum had been placed on the bottom of one. When he rose, he saw Calypso sitting alone over a boiling pot, cutting rabbit's paws apart.

"Good afternoon." She said, her accent prominent.

"Afternoon, thanks for lettin' me have that kip."

"Of course." Calypso turned and smiled kindly, though Scrum still did not trust her entirely; the way she went about things was far too playful for a goddess in his eyes, and her voodoo rituals were going to make him uncomfortable, he could tell.

"If you want Tamara, she outside on the pier."

Just feet away from Calypso's hut was a run-down pier. Tamara was perched delicately on top of it, dipping a fin in the water. Next to her lay a burgundy-coloured corseted dress, for she had now returned to mermaid form with her silver tail splashing around in the incoming tide. Scrum ascended the steps, and she smiled at him as he approached her on the pier, and sat beside her. The view was astonishing; pure horizon with electric blue waters underneath. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Tamara said.

"Stunning." Scrum agreed.

Tamara leant her head on his shoulder, and Scrum lifted a hand to her cheek and pushed her hair behind her ears before stroking her head gently. He considered whether or not he was becoming too brave with her, but she seemed to enjoy having her hair twirled around his fingers. "How do you find Calypso?"

"She's nicer than I thought she would be." Scrum admitted.

"I told you. She is the kindest of goddesses, you should never underestimate the capability of her rage, but if you are good to her, she is good to you. She is fair."

"You're a hit with her."

Tamara smiled, "I know, because I will never let her down. Not like the others who are reckless and cold. Calypso has a heart of her own; and she uses it, as I do. Don't worry though," she nuzzled him, "we'll get back to piracy soon."

Scrum smiled. 'I'd rather just be with you,' he thought to himself as he glanced down at Tamara, who was now sitting upright, gazing out onto the sea.

Tamara looked at him knowingly, and kissed him lightly upon his lips. "It's very bad that I'm doing this."

"Is it?" Scrum grinned.

She nodded, but kissed him again more firmly, gasping lightly as his fingers brushed her ribs. Scrum had been so ingrained in her face, that he had hardly noticed her naked upper half, her hair covering her bareness. He glanced down quickly, slyly, but he heard Tamara giggle.

"Are you trying to imagine what they look like, Scrum?"

"No…Maybe." Scrum had meant it to sound slightly cocky, but instead he just sounded nervous.

There was a pause. "Hm." Said Tamara, turning her head away from him and gazing back out to the horizon. "How many women have you been with?" her tone was curious.

"Um…" Scrum didn't know what to say, he'd never kept count, but there were a fair few. "I'm not sure exactly." He admitted, "why, how many sailors have you had your way with?"

Tamara smiled, "I'm not sure exactly."

Scrum rolled his eyes, "fine well there was one girl called Emily who I was close with, you know what I mean, I liked her too and that, I mean I really did, a lot, and we were -"

"Wonderful." Tamara interrupted.

"What?" Scrum smiled at her.

"Nothing, fantastic." But her jaw was clenched in that 'way' Scrum had grown used to.

"Don't you want to hear the rest?"

"What 'rest'? Idle love stories don't interest me."

"Fair enough." Scrum stared down at the water for a moment, "hold on, did I sense mermaid jealousy?"

Tamara flipped herself out of the water, and threw a large white shirt over herself before gathering the burgundy dress up from the pier. "Scrum, please, don't flatter yourself." She said before storming off.

Scrum lay on the pier for the rest of the day, convinced that Tamara and her goddess were talking about him inside. The mermaid clouded his mind, it felt unnatural for her not to be there with him; teasing him or telling him something. 'She got jealous…I mean, she wouldn't even let me finish and I was fifteen at the time. She got jealous. That was definitely jealousy.'

As he re-entered Calypso's hut, he saw her sat on a wooden chair, Tamara on one similar opposite her. "They be uncaring, princess." Calypso was saying, "for you, one who is so loyal and brave. They will be punished. Or be it you want to carry out that punishment yourself?"

But before she had answered, Tamara turned around to Scrum, and smiled weakly at him. "I'll leave you to it." Calypso stood up, shooting them both a knowing glance, "I be needing to venture into them forest over there. You need rest before you go back to Barbossa."

Once Calypso had left, there was a silence. Tamara beckoned Scrum to take Calypso's chair, "sit and eat."

"Eat what?" Scrum asked nervously, wondering what culinary 'delights' could be found in the voodoo priestess's cupboards.

Tamara picked up a bowl of fresh-looking fruit from beside her, and placed it on the table. Though it was not his most fulfilling meal, Scrum still ate rapidly; he had been absolutely famished.

Tamara watched him eat with a bemused expression on her angelic face. Inside the cabin was warm, and lit with candles and oil lamps now that the sun had gone down fully. "Better?" She asked as Scrum helped himself to a lychee. He nodded greedily, and she smiled at him; her hands neatly tucked away in her lap. Scrum had only just taken the time to notice the burgundy gown she wore, which looked brown in the candlelight. It was strapless, and for the first time he fully appreciated the beauty of her visible collarbones and narrow shoulders.

Tamara leant across the table to wipe some juice from his chin, and sucked it from her own finger. "Perfectly ripe." She said, "did you fall asleep on the pier?"

"For a while, yeah. But I was just thinkin' really."

"Thinking about what?" She propped up her chin, leaning an elbow on the table.

"You, I suppose."

"I see." Tamara pursed her lips, "and what thoughts did you have about me?"

Scrum was unsure of how to answer that. For he'd imagined the two of them in almost every situation in the hours that he spend relaxing on the pier in the sun.

"A lot of them." He said.

Tamara stood, and moved to kneel on the floor below him. She rested her arms over his leg, and smiled up at him; glowing in the light of the fire. "Will you play with my hair again?"

"Of course. My hands are sticky though."

Tamara reached for one of them, and put his fingers in her mouth one by one, sucking passion fruit juice off of them. As she did so, Scrum's brain felt like it was being scrambled around in his head.

"Now," said Tamara, "play with my hair."

Scrum adjusted himself so that she could fit in the gap between his legs. He reached for her hair, taking most of it in his hands gently, and started to twirl and stroke it. Neither of them spoke for the next ten or so minutes, as Tamara seemed to enjoy having her hair played with so much.

After a while, she tilted her head back and looked at Scrum, running one of her hands along his arm. Tamara twisted herself over, so that she was kneeling in front of him properly. "Now try it this way."

Scrum ran his fingers through her waist-length golden hair, gently pulling at the waves of it as Tamara wrapped her arms around his neck. She moaned ever so lightly when she kissed him; suddenly awakening him from his drowsy state. He pulled her upwards, onto his lap where she nuzzled into him and placed frequent kisses on his lips and the tip of his nose.

"I like your hands." She took one of them in her own and examined it. To Scrum, it looked dirty and, well, hand-like, but Tamara looked at it like it was some sort of precious artefact.  
>Scrum raised an eyebrow and laughed, "thank you?" And she kissed him again, adjusting her position so that she could put her legs on either side of his body, and straddle him. 'How is this happening?' Scrum thought as Calypso's angel kissed him passionately. 'Why would she love a simpleton like you, Scrum?' But it was happening, and he knew that, he just didn't understand why or how; maybe he never would. The only thing that he understood about Tamara was that he loved her. He forced himself to block out any thoughts of the fountain of youth, where their journey would come to an end, and where she would leave him forever.<p>

Tamara whispered to him lightly, "I want you."

Scrum felt his heartbeat racing; his whole body felt as though it were pulsating. The mermaid was running her hands along the back of his neck, letting them slide a little down the back of his shirt.

Scrum stood up, clasping Tamara to him. She was so easy to lift, and she tightened her legs around his waist as he held her in the middle of Calypso's cabin. Breaking away, she smiled at him, rubbing the tip of her nose against his. 'I love you.' He told her mentally, not yet brave enough to say it out loud. But she was smiling at him so sweetly, so lovingly that he couldn't help but adore her.

Scrum carried her carefully to the bunk bed and lay her down. She looked up at him, her hair spread behind her on the bed, one delicate arm around his neck. "This goes against all of my values as a mermaid." She grinned.

"You're beautiful." Scrum told her, "values or no values." He leant down to kiss her again. Tamara took his hand, and placed it underneath the thick material of her dress, which had ridden up to just above her knee. She pushed his hand up her thigh; taking a short breath when it reached the top.

Suddenly, she flipped him onto his back, letting herself sit on top of him. Whatever he had just done had driven her to the brink. She began to open his shirt, kissing him all across his chest and then back up to his mouth again.

But then she stopped. And pushed herself off of him all in just a flash of panic.

Scrum sat up on the bed, his shirt now completely unbuttoned. Tamara turned to look at him over her shoulder. Her expression was anxious, she looked genuinely afraid.

"What's wrong?" Scrum asked.

"I don't know. I'm not supposed to be like this. This is not what mermaids do." She said, her tone panicked.

"Why not? I mean, it's fine, but what's wrong? You look so scared." He tried to hold her hand but she knocked him back.

There was a long pause before she turned back to him. "I'm sorry," she said kneeling back down, allowing him to pull her onto his lap. For the first time, Tamara looked as though she were about to cry.

Scrum cradled her. Though he hadn't heard her exact reasoning, he knew why she had moved so quickly, and been so afraid. She was a mermaid; they weren't supposed to act this way with humans, she was afraid of dishonouring her kind; and Scrum gained even more respect for her because of it.

"You're so lovely to me. It just frightens me how I can't control myself around you." She said quietly, holding his hand.

"You think you've got self control problems? Come on you," Scrum said, placing her onto the bed, laying her down and stroking her cheek to calm her, "it's sleep time for mermaids I reckon."

"Stay with me?" She held his hand tightly as he lowered himself onto the floor below her.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise you."


	13. Cruelty and Sympathy

Calypso returned hours later. Scrum had napped briefly, but couldn't quite manage to get himself into a deep sleep.

"She's tired." Said Calypso, stating the obvious.

"Yeah. She is, very." Scrum saw the goddess eye the two of them, and her lips curved into a small smile.

"Come with me." She said.

Scrum hesitated, "I promised I'd stay with her."

"She'll understand. And she won't be wakin' for a while anyway." Calypso beckoned to him from the doorway of her hut and bid him sit down on the decking outside. Her voice was hushed as she spoke, "she's afraid of you."

"Huh? What d'you mean?"

"Don't deny to me that you be in love with Tamara."

Scrum looked down at the floor, shuffling nervously where he sat, "aye. I think so."

"And she love you?"

"I'm not sure about that."

"She different to them others." Calypso was looking at him seriously, "Mermaids are cold creatures by their nature, sailor, but not that one. Tamara is the strongest of her kind; a perfect example of a mermaid, but there will always be one person to challenge our ways, won't there? I see them way you look at each other; the same way I once looked at the man I loved. You be careful with her."

"Of course I will," Scrum promised, "but I still don't understand."

"You're a pirate, she a mermaid. You are…naughty shall we say? She is dangerous, and she can seduce a man with so much as a glance. Don't abuse what she has given to you. I'm talking about her heart; a mermaids love is stronger than her kiss."

Scrum felt himself getting hot. Calypso unnerved him greatly, he wasn't sure if she was being cruel or kind.

"She's me most loyal, and me bravest subject. You hurt her, and she will either kill you there, or wilt into nothing. I must warn you never to hurt my princess. If she get damaged, so will you."

"I would always protect her."

"Because she make your heart feel so different?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she does."

"Me love her like she me daughter. You understand?"

"Definitely, I understand."

"Then go be with her now, if she wakes, she will miss you."

Scrum was ecstatic about what Calypso had just told him. 'She loves me.' He thought to himself, 'well Calypso didn't say that, but she suggested it!' He watched the sleeping mermaid, a million thoughts crowding inside his head at once. But then he thought about the fountain, and what would happen once they had reached it, and his soaring happiness transformed itself into sadness.

Their next few days at Calypso's hut were relaxing and calm. The goddess had treated Scrum's shoulder, she told him he was lucky it hadn't become infected. When they left, Calypso embraced Scrum before turning to Tamara.

"Be good, princess. You know the right thing to do."

Tamara nodded curtly, "of course. Thank you so much for your hospitality, we are so grateful."

Calypso held Tamara's face in her hands, kissing her once on each cheek before pulling her into a tight embrace. "Stay safe, little darling."

"Bloody hell, she loves you." Scrum said as they began up the beach; and got out of Calypso's earshot.

"And I love her." Tamara walked alongside him, the train of her burgundy gown trailed behind her as she trudged through the thick sand.

"So where to now?"

"Comodoro Rivadavia."

"How can you even say that?" Scrum stifled a laugh at the pace of which she said the words.

"It's quite easy." Tamara didn't catch on to Scrum's sense of amusement.

"Oh bloody hell," Scrum cried, suddenly realising that they were going to have to walk back across the island the way they had come.

"Come on." Tamara said playfully, taking Scrum by the hand.

Again, it seemed to take hours in Scrum's head until they reached the beach; but for Tamara it was just a whimsical little journey. Along the way, she had begun to sing; putting him into a kind of trance. She chanted the lyrics of 'My Jolly Sailor Bold':

"_My father is a merchant – the truth I will now tell,_

_And in great London City in opulence doth dwell,_

_His fortune doth exceed 300,000 gold,_

_And he frowns upon his daughter, cause she loves a sailor bold._

_A fig for his riches, his merchandise and gold, _

_True love has grafted my heart; give me my sailor bold."_

She sang until they reached their original starting point; it certainly shut Scrum right up, he could barely talk even when she had stopped, completely captivated by her hauntingly beautiful voice.

"See," she said, "didn't that pass the time nice and quickly?"

Scrum was still staring at her open-mouthed. She smiled at him and he closed it immediately.

There was a stranded longboat across the beach, which Scrum and Tamara pulled into the water. "Who's rowing first?" asked Scrum.

Tamara handed him one of the oars, "we'll do it together. That's fair." She began to wade into the water, her dress flowing heavily behind her; jumping as quickly as she could into the boat, so that her mermaid tail wouldn't make a sudden reappearance.

They sailed close to shore for hours and hours, not stopping once; determined to get to their destination as quickly as they could, but Tamara shook off the idea of swimming there.

Blackbeard was there to greet them. The Black Pearl was out of sight, and on the beach; held at gun and sword point were its crew. Scrum felt panic building up inside of him as Tamara bravely stepped from the boat, taking his hand as they approached the evil captain.

"Still alive I see?" She said to Blackbeard, who was smiling cruelly at her.

"Of course. Well, would you look at your crew now, mermaid? Weren't expecting that, were you?"

"Truthfully, no." She glared at him.

"Well, now you can show _all _of us the way, can't you? There'll be no getting away this time, I can promise you that."

"Haven't you proven yourself cruel enough, pirate?"

"Not just yet." He beckoned to the large, tattooed zombie that had held Tamara on the Pearl, "I believe you've met the Quartermaster's replacement. He'll be taking primary care of you."

The gigantic man grunted, eyeing Tamara stupidly in a way that made Scrum feel entirely uncomfortable for her. Even the mermaid looked a little nervous at this prospect.

"Pleasure." She said, jaw clenched.

"Well," said Blackbeard, "can't hang around. We've got places to go, haven't we?"

The new henchman moved to stand behind Scrum and Tamara, so that they couldn't turn to run away; not that they would have, for the fear on the crew of the Pearl's faces was enough to make them agree.

"I have one request." Said Tamara, "if we're going to walk to your ship, at least allow these men to go freely, without pistols to their heads."

Blackbeard considered her for a moment before subsiding, "lower your weapons." He ordered, to a groan from Salaman, who had looked rather excited at the idea of shooting Philip through the head.

"There is one thing I must ask of you too mermaid." Said Blackbeard. He clicked his fingers, and from behind them came four of his crewmembers, carrying the huge glass box, which had carried Tamara through the first island. "Despite those lovely lookin' legs of yours, you'll be needing to just hop in there. You see, if you make a request, I make one too and we're even, mermaid. I'll even make sure that dress is saved for you. It looks very becoming on that beautiful frame of yours, I couldn't deny you that."

Tamara shook her head, "no. No I'm not getting back in there."

"Remove your clothes and step in, or I will remove your legs for you right here."

Scrum nudged her lightly, and whispered, "get in, I'll make sure you have air. It'll be okay I promise you."

Tamara looked at him for a moment, "okay."

Scrum handed her his jacket, and the Revenge's crew cooed at Tamara as she removed her dress, covering herself as much as she could. She handed Scrum back his coat once her tail had reappeared, and hissed at Gunner who was pulling kissing faces at her. Scrum smirked as he watched the pirate almost drop his corner of the box in fright. But then the lid was slammed down, and they began to walk; Scrum didn't care about his own fate at that point, he just wanted Tamara to be comfortable, and she clearly wasn't.

"She's fine." Ezekiel said in a cold, sharp tone when he saw Scrum turn around to look at her, "just you keep walkin', boy."

They trekked for miles and miles, Scrum was growing increasingly worried about the boxed-up mermaid behind him. He had promised her air, and she had been given none for hours. Philip quickened his pace to catch up with Scrum, "how have you been? We're so sorry, that new thing he's recruited, we just couldn't shake him off, we didn't want for this to happen."

"No, I know you didn't mate, it ain't your fault." Scrum replied solemnly, "bloody hell what are we gunna do now?"

"Blackbeard says he'll keep us alive until we reach the fountain; then we're 'fish food' apparently."

"Tamara will think of something." Scrum assured himself more than Philip.

"Well, I certainly hope she can do that fast. Erm, I forgot to ask…how is that whole situation there?"

"Eh? Oh," Scrum smiled to himself, "good."

Philip threw him a quick grin, "glad to hear it."

Jack too, had now approached them, "mermaid wants you, Scrummy."

"You what?"

"The mermaid,"

"Tamara," Scrum corrected him.  
>"Yeah that one, she, uh, she wants you. We've been walking for hours now, she can't breathe. And they aren't listening to me."<p>

Scrum immediately marched over to Blackbeard and the men carrying Tamara. "You need to give her air." He said, "we had this last time, she needs air or she'll suffocate."

"If she gets air, she'll escape." Angelica piped up from behind her father.

"No she won't, look at her, it's boiling hot, just make a gap in the lid, give her something." Scrum was beginning to beg; he had looked at Tamara and the glass surrounding her had steamed up, she had given up banging on the side, and was weakly splashing the water over herself to keep her body cool.

"Please. What use is she to you dead? Just give her air."

Blackbeard laughed coldly, "she's a tough one. She'll be okay," he bent down to look at her as they marched on, "won't you, pretty?"

Tamara didn't answer, her breath against the glass was making it steam up even more, and she was inhaling deeply.

"Father," said Angelica, whose eyes had been fixed on Scrum with sympathy, "maybe, actually, it's best to just give her some air."

Scrum raised an eyebrow quickly; even Angelica could comprehend the importance of what he was saying. "And what, let the little whore climb out? I don't think so." Blackbeard continued walking. Gunner was now glancing anxiously at Tamara too, for she looked shattered. Night was fast approaching, and she had never been carried around for so long without a breath of air. "If you don't mind me sayin' sir," Gunner spoke quietly, "it might be a good idea; she does look like she's strugglin'"

"You look like you are too, Gunner," said Blackbeard, "but does that mean we're stopping? No. No it does not. Keep walkin' the mermaid can have air when I decide we rest."

Angelica looked through the glass at Tamara, "father look at her for goodness sake she's dying!"

"I don't care!"

"How can we use her if she's dead? Just open it a crack, what harm can it do? You've weakened her already; she won't move anywhere. She can't - "

Blackbeard stopped dead in his tracks, pulling out his sword and pointing it at his daughter's throat. "You argue against me one more time, and I promise you this here blade will go straight through your heart once it's finished gouging your eyes out. Do we have an understanding?"

Angelica didn't reply, but nodded. "And you," Blackbeard turned on Scrum, "I should tell you I've never had time for love stories. And couldn't give a damn about your own; think of it as a fantasy. When she dies, it's all over."

Scrum felt sick to his stomach. "Wh-what do you mean when she d-dies?"

"You'll see, lad. Now bugger off, keep walkin'."

The huge zombie henchman pushed Scrum forward, but he had become slow; he felt as though he could barely function with this knowledge in his head. So Blackbeard would kill her? And Scrum would live the rest of his life miserable. But of course, she was always going to leave…Surely though, surely she couldn't die?

Blackbeard found a space in the Argentinean jungle where he wished to rest that night. The crew of the Revenge all lit a fire, and most fell asleep instantly after a large intake of rum. The crew of the Pearl were segregated from the others, though they were under the watch of Salaman and the tattooed zombie, who also guarded Tamara's glass tank. Angelica approached them with her sword brandished, looking over at Tamara's container, which was visible in the firelight, though now completely steamed up. She looked quickly at Scrum and nodded before moving quickly over to the container and opening the lid with her sword. Scrum heard Tamara gasping for air; and he Philip and Gibbs ran towards her. She was just visible through the steam, which was slowly evaporating as her container was aired. "I'm so sorry, I tried to get to you earlier. Tamara, are you alright?" Scrum said.

"Uh-huh." Tamara gasped in lungfuls of air. Angelica was now moving back to where the crew of the Revenge were. Scrum put his hand through the slit in the container and felt her holding onto it. She smiled at him through the glass forgivingly; she understood how he had tried to help her.

"Do you want me to stay here?" He asked.

"I don't want you to get in any trouble," she said, then acknowledging Gibbs and Philip, "or you two."

"Do you want to eat something?" Philip asked, looking at her kindly through the glass barrier, "there's plenty lying around."

Tamara nodded her head, "thank you."

Philip ran to fetch her some bread, and some fruit as well as a glass bottle filled with pure water. But the gap was so small, that Scrum had to take the bottle and pour it down Tamara's throat from above, as they could not fit it through. Gunner, who was standing close by, offered her some of his rum.

"Who the bloody hell do you think you are to offer her a drink?" Gibbs said defensively. "You been carryin' her around all day in this glass box, she can't breathe, you've left her in there to die and you wanna offer her some of your _rum_? You bastard."

Gunner looked somewhat ashamed of himself as Gibbs turned back to Tamara. "You'll be alright lovey, we'll try and do as much as we can."

Tamara smiled weakly at him. But both he and Philip were called over by Jack within minutes, and bid their goodnights to her. Scrum looked at her; even when she was weakened and exhausted she was still the most exquisite thing he'd ever set eyes on. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A little, thank you."

But that wasn't a good enough answer for Scrum; he stood up, and shifted the lid fully away from the container with all of his might, so that Tamara could sit up properly. She had already had to eat laying down. As those protecting the glass box tried to start a commotion, Angelica ordered them to leave it immediately, brandishing a pistol from her waistband and pointing it in Gunner's direction.

Scrum stroked Tamara's cheek; she could barely move for exhaustion, and stared up at him with the most weak of expressions on her face; her eyes were beginning to close.

"I'll let you sleep, alright?"

"Don't go," she said, eyes now fully closed, but she held onto his hand. "Please just ask if they'll let me out for tonight."

But Jack had already heard her request, for he was now standing within earshot. "Angelica." He called, "would it be a _major _issue if we let the poor thing out of her cage for tonight, so that she can sleep properly?"

"Mermaids sleep in water for their entire lives, Jack, I don't see why she should be let out."

Jack nodded his head in Scrum and Tamara's direction urgently, as if to say 'for God's sake have a heart!' Angelica saw that Scrum was stroking the mermaids face gently, and she was leaning against the edge of her container, eyes shut, head lolling to one side, but holding onto the pirates hand. "Fine." She said, "but she'll be under close watch. Scrum, you may take her out for tonight."

"Thank you milady! Thank you!" Scrum stood up excitedly before rousing Tamara a little. He removed his jacket and placed it over her drying shoulders and back. As he lifted her from the water, he noticed that she was a little heavier with her tail, and he squirmed slightly as it disappeared in his hands, along with it's extra weight, and formed into her human legs again. Scrum held her close to his chest, she was already snoozing in his arms but she awoke as he put her on the floor. Tamara placed her arms through the sleeves of the jacket, and did the buttons up to protect herself from the cool breeze. She smiled tiredly at Scrum again, as he pulled her close to him so that she could lean against his chest. He figured this would be the most comfortable sleeping position for her. Tamara curled herself up into a ball, shifting herself into Scrums lap and wrapping her arms around his neck while she leant her head on him. "Tamara?" he said, suddenly thinking.

"Mm?"

"What if Blackbeard, and I'm sorry to be morbid here, but what if he wants you dead once we've got to the fountain?"

"Then he will kill me." She said, drifting to sleep again.

"But what if I don't want him to?"

"Then we'll…" she yawned, "go to the Pearl…and Jack…we'll, find something I have ideas and…goodnight."

She bridled slightly in his arms, nuzzling her head into his chest before drifting off into the deepest sleep Scrum had yet seen her in. He too, after kissing her on the top of her head, fell into a worried slumber.


	14. Jack's Idea

Tamara woke Scrum as the sun was rising; she was drawing little patterns across his chest with her finger, tickling him ever so lightly. "Oi." He said, pulling her close, "bloody wakin' me up."

"Sorry, I can't sleep. I like that area." She ran her finger across his collarbone.  
>"Eh?"<p>

"Nothing." She kissed his neck, "the sun is not yet up, go back to sleep."

When Blackbeard noticed Tamara awake he roused the rest of the crew and ordered her to be thrown, quite literally, back into the glass container, which was only half-filled with water; not nearly enough to keep her cool in the intense heat.

"It's an hour to the ship from here." Angelica muttered to Scrum, lingering behind with him as they walked. The crew of the Pearl were still under close watch, and Ezekiel was taking much pleasure in pushing a pistol to Philip's back whenever he could.

Scrum tried to glimpse Tamara whenever he could, and whenever he did, she seemed to be struggling for air. "Do you reckon you could just move the lid a little bit at least, I know she went for a long time yesterday, but it can't be good for her."

But Angelica shook her head in refusal.

The glass container with the mermaid in it was hoisted on deck by a large swing. "Put her down in the lower deck; in the cell. Put 'em all in there." Blackbeard pointed at the Pearl's hopeless crew.

"What shall we do with her, captain?" Asked Salaman, "do we keep her in that box or not?"

Blackbeard considered it for a moment, "aye. Leave her to rot in it."

Scrum panicked, looking around for Angelica's help. "Father," she said, "keeping her in the sun is one thing, but if she's in there with that kind of humidity. She won't survive. How will she eat?"

"Maybe if she gets hungry enough, she'll eat one of her new found pals. You will not go against my orders. I said leave her to rot and take the rest down with her. Shackle them all up; I don't want them helping her. I want her in one cell, and _them_ in another."

And so it was. Scrum, Jack, Barbossa and all of the other crewmembers were either handcuffed, or chained up and thrown into a cell that was far too small for all of them together. Tamara was placed in the one next to them, so that Scrum had a perfectly clear view of her. He could just about touch the glass if he slid his wrist through the bars. "Are you alright?" he asked anxiously as she gazed at him, utterly exhausted, drained and fatigued. But she nodded nonetheless, and curved her lips into the slightest, sweetest smile she could muster. Tamara pushed her hand up to the glass, breathing heavily.

For at least two days he watched her growing weaker and weaker, breathing less and less. He desperately wanted her to look at him, but she hadn't. The men had barely talked among themselves, all of them too depressed to say a word. But looking at Tamara's container, Gibbs had piped up.

"I'm surprised she hasn't cried yet. They can't do this to her surely? They _need _her."  
>"Blackbeard's a damn fool!" Said Barbossa.<p>

"Come on, Scrum," he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Philip's, "there's no use in it now."  
>Scrum had been staring through the bars of his cell, gazing at Tamara's body, which had been lying completely still. "She looks dead." Whispered Jack.<p>

"I'm just hungry." Tamara called back at them with as much energy as she could, much to Scrum's relief (he threw himself at the cell bars, his handcuffs clanging loudly.)

"Tamara?" He asked, positioning himself uncomfortably so that he could tap his knuckles on the glass. She tried to roll over, but couldn't.

And then they heard movement. Somebody was opening the door to the ship's 'prison', and was moving down the stairs.

"Angelica!" Jack cried out.

"Shh!" warned the pirate, "I'm not supposed to be down here."

"Always were a rule breaker," Jack grinned.

"How is she?" Angelica seemed to be asking Philip.

"Not good at all," the missionary said, "she can't breathe, she's too hot, don't you understand? She needs fresh, cool water, and some air. At least get her some food and five minutes of oxygen. Please?"

Tamara smiled weakly at the missionary and Scrum turned his head towards Philip, giving him a scornful look, which went unnoticed. But Angelica was pulling a key from her belt, looking around cautiously for any unwanted company. She opened Tamara's cell quickly and carefully, darting inside and unlocking the gigantic glass lid. All of a sudden Tamara had come to her senses, and began to push up on the lid, which lifted with ease under her strength. Scrum couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at her sudden power.

She sat up so quickly, pushing her upper half completely from the box and breathed heavily, deeply, as though she had never done so before. Scrum watched her gasping, her hair was dripping water onto the floor and all of a sudden, she weakened again, collapsing back into the glass box, closing her eyes and falling asleep once more.

Angelica moved to place the lid back onto the container, but Philip stopped her before Scrum could. "No!" he hissed, "just because she's asleep, she still needs air; give her more time. Please."

Angelica considered him, "I can't." She whispered.

"Please." Scrum said, putting his face to the bars, "look at her. Have mercy milady."

Tamara was breathing deeply, eyes still closed, in her container. Angelica looked at her and sighed. "Fine. Five minutes, maximum. I'll be back with more water."

"Thank you." Scrum gave her a grateful look.

True to her word, Angelica came back after a few minutes carrying a pale of water. She unlocked the door of Tamara's cell, and poured it over the mermaid, who roused quickly.

"Thank you." She said.

Angelica didn't respond, but gave her a knowing look to which Tamara smiled weakly. "I'm sorry I lost your mother's dress too." She muttered.

To this, Angelica clenched her jaw, "it's okay." She said through gritted teeth, "I have to put this back on." She tapped the lid, moving it and closing it down before Tamara could respond.

"You'll be back, though?" asked Jack.

Angelica nodded, "yes. Soon. You'll need to eat."

"Thank you." Said Jack.

And with that, Angelica left.

The men were all beginning to groan at their empty stomachs. The 'prison' was boiling hot, it was difficult to breathe with the dust that filled their lungs. Not only that, but it stank putridly.

That very evening, though, the young cabin boy who had been appointed to Blackbeard's crew entered carrying trayfuls of bread, cheese and water with him. He set the trays down to open the cell door; throwing them in and then leaving again.

"Wait," Philip said, though the cabin boy left anyway, "what about Tamara?"

There was no use in trying to pass her food, she was trapped in the glass container, which was steaming up heavily again; and she hadn't moved much in hours. The Pearl's crew though, ate what they could get their hands on; all a little more relieved.

"Hang on," said Jack, "what happens if we need to..well, you know…"

"Piss?" asked Gibbs.

"Yes, thank you Gibbs. That."

The rest of them looked around awkwardly. Barbossa grimaced, "make it that corner. Farthest away from me, you got that?"

"What do you care?" a little voice sounded from the next cell, Tamara's, "you're a pirate. You should be used to laying about in excrement."

"He said piss, mermaid." Barbossa replied.

"Well…" said Jack, then noticing Barbossa's expression said, "I'm joking."

Over the next week or so, (Scrum lost track of time,) Angelica visited frequently, allowing Tamara her five minutes of air and water; and brought food to the others. Though as time went on, she began to find the task tiresome, and was becoming ever more spiteful towards the weakening mermaid.

"Tamara needs food too," Philip informed her, "she's been starved."

"Mermaids don't eat as frequently as humans."

"So? She needs food. You said so yourself." He moved to put his hand through the bars and tap lightly on Tamara's container, "are you hungry?" he asked as she slowly turned her head to him.

Tamara nodded. She looked completely fatigued and worn out. Angelica whined, and refused to feed the exhausted creature. From that point on, she didn't come back. Days on, and the men had used their reserve food (which they had prepared for a situation such as this.) Tamara had had no air, nor fresh water, and was beginning to move around less and less.

Each of them was miserable, Scrum felt a little like he was going mad; and the stench in the cells was getting worse. Jack was the first to suggest it, completely out of the blue, "how about we commandeer the ship?"

"You what?" Gibbs scoffed.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Barbossa shot Jack a cynical look.

"I don't know, but we need to think of something. I'm refusing to just starve, mate."

"You can't just commandeer a ship, Jack. Not one under Blackbeard's command." Said Barbossa.

"I've done it with yours enough times, Hector." Retorted Jack.

Barbossa grimaced at the mention of his first name. "Fine." He said through gritted teeth, "then we'll have to think of something."  
>There was a light tapping on the glass of the container, Tamara was leaning up against it, "I can help." She said.<p>

Almost immediately Scrum moved to her, "how are you? Are you all right? I've been worryin' like nobodies business over 'ere."

She smiled at him weakly through the glass, "I'm okay. If you want to commandeer this ship, I can help you. All I need is a little more energy. So you'll have to keep the others down here as frequently as you can. I mean, we must be in the middle of the ocean by now, and every moment we draw closer to the fountain of youth. We need to get someone down here as soon as possible with food, and fresh water." Her voice was breathless and quiet, and she truly looked exhausted pressed up to the glass.

"Go on…" said Philip, suddenly extremely intrigued by the idea of an escape.

"But we need a man, such as the cabin boy, or Ezekiel; even Gunner." She almost whispered, "smiling and singing for Angelica will do no good. Mermaids' powers are wasted on women. I'll be able to get the key from one of the men far more easily."

"She's not strong enough." Philip muttered, ever the cynic.

"For Christs sake." Mallot piped up suddenly, "didn't you see her them past two battles? If she'd have been with us to fight Blackbeard last time, we wouldn't be in this mess now would we? If she says she can get the key, she can get the bloody key, alright?"

The others looked around at each other, "all right," said Jack, moving himself towards Tamara's cell, "if I can make a big old distraction, we'd better pray it's a bloke that comes down, savvy?"

"Aye." Tamara smiled weakly again.

And so that night, it happened. Jack unexpectedly woke the others by yelling at the top of his lungs, "no! Kraken, no! No, no, no! Ouch! Ow!"

There was a scuffle as they all woke, the only light coming from the moon outside (for there were the smallest of windows below deck.)

Faintly, Scrum could see Tamara's silhouette in the blackness, through the glass. The door burst open, and in came Ezekiel with Derrick; the crews quietest member, a middle-aged Scotsman.

"What the devil is going on in here?" said Ezekiel. He was brandishing a lantern. Derrick moved to either side of the prison to light the fire torches on the walls.

"Sorry lads," said Jack, "the mermaid there, she's getting a bit hungry."

They didn't look at her, "what was all the screamin' about then?" Ezekiel bared his teeth.

"Nightmare, surely you've had those things?"

"Waste of space you are, Sparrow. We'll leave the lights on, so you don't have another." Ezekiel said sarcastically as the two men turned around to leave.

There was a loud bang on the glass, and Tamara was beginning to thrash around inside her container. Almost immediately, the men ran to her.

"Shh!" Ezekiel panicked, "if the captain hears you, you'll be dead meat."

But Tamara pushed her hand up against the glass still, hissing and splashing with her tail. Ezekiel panicked, and took the key from Derrick's waistband.

"She wants air," Philip informed them as the men broke through into Tamara's cell and began picking at the lock on her container.

Once the lid lifted, Tamara threw her head back and gasped in the 'fresh' air.

"See." Said Philip, glaring at the men.

Neither Ezekiel nor Derrick had been so close to her before, and they were staring at her, now calm; their eyes moved up and down her body, from her magnificent head to her jewel-like silver tail.

Scrum saw her gaze at them, and smile sweetly, which made his own heart beat a little faster. Derrick seemed to have lost his breath, and was leaning ever closer towards her. But Ezekiel was going to be tougher to crack. He held Derrick back, still staring at Tamara, but clearly trying to resist.

She was now leaning her arms on the side, sitting up, resting her chin on them.

"Don't fall for it," Ezekiel said bluntly, "don't let it get to y-you." He was beginning to lose his voice the more he stared into her eyes.

"Stop it, mermaid." He said, with little meaning.

Tamara flicked her tail, and batted her eyelashes flirtatiously at them, "why, sailor? Does it not please you to see me so close?"

Ezekiel couldn't reply, he was now kneeling down at her container. Derrick looked as though he were about to faint. Tamara wasn't going to have to sing for them, she had already entranced them with a look.

"You're brave sailors, aren't you?" She asked.

"Aye." They said in unison.

"Brave enough for a mermaids kiss."

'_she's yours,' _Scrum told himself _'she's told you enough times, you're her favourite. Don't get jealous.'_

He glared at them, as they both responded in unison, with much enthusiasm again. Then Tamara looked at Scrum, and beckoned him slyly. As he moved carefully towards the cell bars, Tamara began to talk again. "Lean closer, sailor; let me see you properly."

Ezekiel came closer, and Tamara pressed a hand gently on his cheek, slightly leaning over the glass container. "The key for a kiss, will it be? I just want to play with it, that is all."

Almost immediately, Ezekiel began to fumble in his pockets, looking for the key and Derrick by this point was too dumbfounded to stop him.

"She's good." Scrum heard Jack whisper as Ezekiel carefully placed the key into Tamara's hand.

"Now," said the mermaid, still gazing heavily into Ezekiel's eyes, flitting her own at Derrick on occasion to keep him in his trance, "how about that bargain? You're letting me play with the key, aren't you? Won't you do that for me, let me play with it?"

Ezekiel nodded open mouthed, and Scrum watched Tamara's hand move down the other side of the container. Ever so slowly, she rearranged her position, so that she could pass the key to Scrum through the narrow bars.

Scrum took the key carefully, eyes on Tamara. As he watched her smile at Ezekiel, he dropped them with a loud clink on the floor.

"Wait a minute…" Ezekiel suddenly said, coming to his senses after hearing the clunk of the keys. "Gunner! Gunner! Derrick, get someone!" he yelled. But then as he began to stand, Tamara did something that made Scrum's heart plummet into his stomach. She kissed him. The worn, old man. Tamara was kissing him full on the mouth, both arms around his neck, and with such passion that nobody could move for shock. An ugly feeling reared itself in Scrum's stomach. He almost felt as though he were about to cry; yet he was too angry to do so, while too shocked to move a muscle.

It was Jack who crept over and took the key from the floor. Tamara was still kissing the old man, who looked as though he were about to have a heart attack. Scrum felt like he was about to vomit. That was _his _mermaid. She was supposed to love him, and only him.

"You can have your revenge," Barbossa murmured in Scrum's ear, tugging him away from the bars. Jack had broken out from the cell, and from behind Derrick had taken his sword and plunged it straight through the pirate's stomach. As he fell to the floor, Ezekiel hardly noticed.

Jack quickly unlocked Scrum's handcuffs first, before moving onto the rest. As Scrum entered Tamara's now open cell, he looked at her, still leaning over the side of her container, and humming a quiet tune to Ezekiel, who looked dead on his knees in the awe of her beauty.

Just one quick look signified to Scrum just what Tamara needed him to do. Ezekiel's sword caught his eye, hanging from his waistband, and Scrum picked it up. _'Don't you touch her.' _Scrum thought to himself, before plunging the sword through Ezekiel's chest. At that moment, Tamara leapt from her container, which crashed, and shattered into a million pieces around her. Jack had just freed Mallot; but there were not enough weapons to go around. Scrum kept hold of Ezekiel's sword, gripping it tightly. They were all sure that the crew would come within seconds. Philip had torn off his shirt and threw it to Tamara, who in a matter of moments transformed back into a human once more. Scrum winced slightly, yet he was not remorseful at the sight of Tamara ripping out Ezekiel's throat, and tearing at his limp body. She must have been utterly starved.

A sense of pride grew in Scrum as he watched her devour the old mans body. Though it was sick of him, he knew that Tamara would never do such a thing to _his _body. He felt proud _for _her. Her strength knew no bounds; and apparently neither did her appetite.

Gunner appeared through the door, and yelled at the top of his lungs at the sight of the feasting mermaid and the loose crew. "They're free!" He raised his sword above his head, and went for Philip first, who was weaponless. The crew of the Pearl managed to drive Gunner out onto the deck, where the vicious and ready crew of the Revenge met them. Tamara appeared beside Scrum, who gripped on tightly to her prey's sword, glaring fearlessly at the crew. Blackbeard and Angelica stood from their cabin balcony, gazing out over the crowd.

Jack made the first move, aiming his pistol at Gunner and pulling the trigger. The battle that commenced was fierce and bloody. Things only became worse when Blackbeard unleashed his most dangerous weapon, the new, nameless zombie. Yet Tamara seemed ready. Scrum shot her an anxious glance as she stood, staring the zombie out, Philip's blood-stained shirt over her. She gave the zombie a quick smile before pouncing. The noise was almost unbearable as members of the Pearl did their best to fling the enemy overboard. Angelica had been the first one to go, Barbossa had had little guilt in throwing her over the side of the ship. Gibbs had run along one side, cutting the ropes of three longboats of the seven that were on the ship. "There you go, rogues!" He laughed, as he and Philip hauled them over the side, not caring who they landed on. "Retreat to safety, we wouldn't want ya drownin' now! We'd love to beat you down again!"

Tamara launched herself at the heavily tattooed zombie, who brandished a large, extremely threatening axe. The sheer force of her push, landed the zombie to the floor. There was something different about her as she fought. Something more magical. Scrum had witnessed her strength before, but never to this extent. It was the sort of strength he would expect of somebody like Calypso. If she'd wanted to, she could have lifted the entire ship. Blackbeard was beginning to look worried, and lunged for the mermaid. His distraction gave the zombie the opportunity to lift her, and fling her across the ship. Scrum ran to help get her up, but she didn't look at him as she launched herself back at the zombie, knocking him down again, pushing Blackbeard out of the way with ease.

"Oh," said Jack, noticing Blackbeard in front of him, "sorry about this." Blackbeard's eyes widened as Jack swung from a hanging rope of the ship's mast, and kicked him with both legs over the side. Soon enough it was only Tamara and the zombie left, but Barbossa insisted that none of them involved themselves. The zombie had clearly had enough, and was putting up a ferocious fight, which Tamara looked to be losing. She was so much smaller than him, but she didn't give up, not once. She was now covered in her own blood, as well as Ezekiel and Derrick's. It was pouring from her nose, and her head; one of her legs had been slashed open, but still she fought. Again, it was about to bring tears to Scrum's eyes. He lunged forward, but Philip stopped him, "this is her battle." He said.

"She's losing!" Scrum cried.

Tamara was on the floor, gasping for breath, crawling as fast as she could away from the zombie, who was nearing, and laughing at her. He picked her up with ease, and held her to him like she was a little toy.

He grunted, before sniffing and licking her. Scrum clenched his jaw, tightening the grip around his sword as Tamara grimaced and struggled in pain. Then, she looked upwards, at the sky. Scrum wondered what she was doing, if the huge man had crushed her in his arms. He now had her from the back, and was running his hands roughly all over her. And she was still looking up at the sky, a blank expression on her face, before collapsing to the ground. Jack closed his eyes, Philip's jaw dropped.

"Is she…no…she's not…"

"What?" Scrum cried, "not dead. She can't…"

But the mermaid didn't move. The zombie was now on his knees, laughing, holding her like a limp fish in the moonlight. Scrum felt one, then a stream of tears running down his cheek. He dropped the sword, his head in his hands. Philip and Barbossa held him back from running to her.

"Wait." Said Barbossa.

"He's killed her! I'll kill him!"

"No!" Barbossa gripped even tighter, "leave it be."

There was something unusually calm in his voice, something knowing about it's gruff tone. Scrum had fallen to the floor, just meters away from his mermaid, who the zombie was entertaining himself with, making Scrum sick with anger. The zombie laughed stupidly, stroking her hair and flinging her backwards and forwards in his arms like a rag doll.

And then, there was a scream. Louder than anything Scrum had ever heard. He looked up sharply, wiping tears from his eyes. Tamara was now up, a golden glow surrounding her, highlighting her. Her hair flew behind her, though caught in a heavy wind, her eyes glowed so green, it was like looking straight at a handful at emeralds. She was screeching, fangs bared, on top of the zombie who had screamed so loudly. They watched her as she shred him apart, tearing open his chest, decapitating him with one rip at his neck. Tamara was visibly licking the blood up that was coming up from his headless throat.

When she had finished, she looked up at them. The halo-like glow still emitted from her body, though it dimmed as she stood up fully. The shirt she wore was now completely red, as was her face. She wiped her chin on her sleeve, and then, the glow left her. She had been revived in just seconds. Scrum stared in awe of her as she walked up to him, smiling, though not looking as deranged as Scrum may have thought. He was unsure of whether to be scared of her.

Ignoring the others, she went straight to him, and stroked his cheek, wet blood smeared across it, but he didn't mind. "How did you…I thought you were…"

Tamara grinned at him, "no," she said, "you just hadn't seen the strength Calypso gave me."

Scrum pulled her into his chest, and hugged her tightly. "Gave me a right bloody scare you did."

"Were you crying?" She nuzzled his chest, as the others gazed from the zombie's huge body, to the mermaid.

"No. Might have been." Scrum muttered, giving her a light squeeze. Relief washed over his entire body; she was fine.

"Well." Said Jack, swaggering over drunkenly, "I think we won that round fair and square. A drink and a sail, I say! The fountain of youth is within our reach once more. Lets go! We head south!"

The crew suddenly busied themselves again, setting the ship up to sail as quickly as they could. Philip and Mallot had joined Scrum and Tamara to congratulate her, and she in turn thanked them for helping in battle.

"So then," said Scrum leading his mermaid to one side of the ship as it began to sail onward swiftly, "that's the last time I ever underestimate you."

She gripped onto his hand; it was covered in dry, cracking blood. "I need to wash." She said.

Scrum turned to look at her, she was biting her lower lip, gazing at him suggestively, "perhaps you'd like to help me, sailor."

"Bloody Hell," Scrum muttered, his mouth hung open, "of course."

Tamara smirked, before reaching up to kiss him lightly on the lips. "Good." She said, "I can't bathe all alone."


	15. Too Close

Tamara led Scrum down to the lower deck. She needn't have looked around, for they were completely alone. The second they entered the cabin Tamara pushed Scrum against a wall between two bunks, kissing him passionately. Scrum's pulse was beginning to rise, as the mermaid pulled away and moved her lips down his neck to his collarbone.

She almost growled, at him as she gripped his shirt collar on either side and reinforced her shove into the wall. And then, looking into his eyes, she stood on her tip-toes and kissed him lightly, ever so gently, and smiled. "You were brave out there, sailor."

"You were braver." Muttered Scrum.

Tamara kissed him again, gasping lightly as Scrum dared to run a hand up her thigh. Every single time she went near him, Scrum could hardly believe his own luck. He was afraid to blink as she looked into his eyes, for fear that she might vanish, and her entire presence had been a dream.

Scrum felt the mermaid picking at the buttons on his shirt. Her hands were cool as she ran them over his back underneath the material.

"Now mine." She whispered. Scrum stared at her, astonished.

"Wh-what?"

She leant up close and whispered in his ear, "the shirt…take it off." Scrum had hardly even noticed the blood that had soaked the thin material. He fumbled with his own half-unbuttoned shirt nervously as the mermaid smirked. '_what are you doing, you absolute idiot!' _Scrum was mentally shouting at himself, _'just do it, look at her!'_

But he had taken to long; he reached out just as Tamara turned her back on him, and walked elegantly away to change her clothes. Scrum slapped himself lightly around the face once she had disappeared, and took himself back up to the ship's main deck. Tamara emerged a good half-hour later, dressed again in Calypso's burgundy-coloured gown. She breezed past him coolly, as Scrum stared at her. She was so breathtakingly beautiful, what was wrong with him? Last time they had gotten that close, he'd had no problem at all. But Scrum was so much bigger than her, he was afraid of damaging his mermaid.

Days went by, and as they did so, Scrum couldn't help but think about what was going to happen after the fountain of youth. He tried asking Jack, who shrugged. He tried asking Philip, who claimed to have "no idea." He then asked Barbossa, who came up with the answer that played most in Scrum's mind:

"Well we can see the mermaid safely off, and then it's on to the next treasure."

"What do you mean see her safely off?" Scrum asked.

"Look," said Barbossa, "I know you want her to stay, but she _can't, _and she won't want to either. It doesn't do well for mermaids to be out of water so long. We get the tear, then the trip's over."

Scrum tried to think of all possible solutions. Maybe if they let her in the water every day, she'd stay on board the ship. And then he began to question, did she care about him enough to stay? '_Of course she doesn't'_ Scrum told himself, as he watched Tamara conversing closely with Philip one morning, '_she's a mermaid. They aren't domesticated as such, of course she'll want to leave.'_

The more he thought about it, the more irritated and upset he became. Should he ask her? No. No that would do no good at all. Knowing Tamara, she would probably just end up angry with him, and not speaking to him at all.

She approached him on the deck one afternoon, where he was cleaning the top of the hatch. "Do you want some help?" she said.

"You what?"

"You've been doing that for hours. Give me the brush."

Scrum watched her kneel down beside him, "no. You're fine."

He turned his face to her, and she was raising an eyebrow mockingly, "I let you help me, now allow me to do the same for you."

"You've already helped me."

"Then let me do some more." Playfully, she snatched the brush from his hand and began to scrub the wooden hatch. Scrum tried to snatch it back from her, but it was no use, she was far too quick for his clumsy grasp.

She gazed at him, her teeth showing slightly through the gap between her lips. Her long, blonde hair fell across her shoulder, and Scrum was exposed to her protruding collarbones and delicate neck. She smiled at him, looking directly into his eyes as they both sat on their hands and knees. Leaning forwards slightly, she rubbed her nose against the tip of his, making his stomach flip.

With her face still remarkably close to his, she said quietly, "maybe later you can return the favour."

He felt faint, completely sure that his face had turned the same colour as her gown. She had no idea the effect she had. But then again, she must have. She was a mermaid of course, this was her job, what she was best at.

"Fine." She glared, standing up, throwing the brush at his arm in a not-so-playful way.

As she turned to walk away Scrum called to her, "what happens after this, then? Once we've found the fountain of youth and we've got the tear."

She turned to him, "then we all go back to how we were. You hunt treasure and I hunt men."

As Scrum opened his mouth to speak, Philip appeared and took Tamara by her arm, leading her aside. Scrum watched the two of them whispering closely. His stomach did a vile turn as he saw Tamara pressing her hand delicately on the missionary's cheek. Why was it that everything Tamara did involved a mood swing? One moment, Scrum was all she seemed to care about, the next, she couldn't have given a damn. One moment she was happy, the next she was irritable and sharp-tongued. He shouldn't have liked her so much, he knew that; he knew it was wrong to be so infatuated with someone who would always need to be free, and who would always be unpredictable, and sometimes cruel. But he couldn't help it. He had let himself fall in, and there was no way out. Around Tamara, Scrum felt happy, like he could be himself completely. Never would he dare to tell the other pirates things that he had told Tamara since meeting her. She was the only person who let him express his feelings without laughing, she was the only person he could be silly around and not feel as though he were being stupid. Something in her made him feel like a free man; but he wasn't. He was trapped under the command of whoever's ship he sailed upon.

'_Pull yourself together.' _Scrum tore his eyes away from the mermaid and the missionary.

Time seemed to be passing ever more quickly, and the heat was becoming unbearable.

"Where are we?" Tamara breathed heavily, her throat dry.

"Tropic of Capricorn." Replied Jack, holding his compass up above his head and squinting at it.

"The equator?"

"Aye. We sail past Australia, then up through the Philippines and into China from there."

"So we're close?" Asked Philip.

"A couple of weeks, I'd say, bearing in mind that this ship is slower than the Pearl."

Scrum couldn't bear it. He plunged his head into the large pale of water beside them. As he wiped his eyes dry, he saw Philip and Jack were staring at him totally bewildered. Tamara was giggling. She moved over to him, handing him his hat which was floating in the barrel and then she did the same.

Scrum raised his eyebrows as he watched her plunge her head into the cool water up to her neck. She stayed under the water for at least four minutes.

"I forgot she could breathe in that." Scrum threw Jack and Philip a glance.

Sparrow moved towards her, examining her perfectly-formed body from the back and licking his lips in restraint.

Tamara splashed them all with the water as she pulled her head from the barrel, her hair now completely soaked. She was looking at Scrum oddly, though he had done something terrible. He gazed at her, his mouth opening to say something, but her jaw was clenched and her beautiful eyes had a sudden sadness to them, instead of their usual bright mischievousness.

"What was that all about?" Scrum followed his mermaid as she stormed below deck and into the cabin, after a full day of ignoring him once again.

"All what?" She didn't need to turn around for him to see her face, her tone of voice made it perfectly clear that she was angry.

"You giving me that look, and now acting like this all day. What's it all about Tamara?"

"We're far too close, Scrum; don't you realise that? Don't you realise what is going to happen to me once we get to the Fountain?" Scrum stared at her bewildered as she pivoted around to snap at him.

"What you talking about?"

Tamara let out a high-pitched laugh, "idiot. How do you think they'll get a mermaid to cry, Scrum? What do you really think they intend to do? We're among the toughest creatures in the world, no amount of physical pain can bring tears to our eyes. But we can still _feel_, I think I've proven that to you already. We can feel as every other human feels, it's one of our weakest points; and they know that."

"But they wouldn't try and hurt you, Jack said – Barbossa promised that!" Scrum moved to comfort her, but she backed away hastily.

"Barbossa wants what the fountain offers, you think that a promise means that much to him? And Jack, well, Jack doesn't care."

"He does!"  
>"They'll kill you, Scrum!"<p>

There was a pause between them whilst Scrum desperately searched for a retaliation to her ludicrous comment. They weren't going to kill him, he was one of their own now. Why would they kill him?

Tamara sighed heavily as she approached him, looking into his eyes as she placed her hands around his face. "I never knew what it was to love, Scrum. And now, I do, and they know that."

"You love m-"

"Don't even question it. Beyond anything, believe me, I do. The only way they could make me cry is by taking away the one thing I will want forever; and I can't do that to you. I can't put you in that kind of danger; if you die, I will not survive. And I would rather live, knowing that you're out there somewhere… So I have to go."

"No," Scrum gripped onto her tiny wrists in an attempt at restraint, "no, please. You can't go Tamara. Please."

"Don't beg, my love. It makes you seem weaker than you really are."

"You're making me weak."

"Then you're better off without me."

"That isn't what I meant." Scrum felt breathless, his mind was a complete mess, he couldn't think of anything to say to her, yet the words kept pouring from his mouth. His throat felt dry, and his stomach was tied in knots.

"Please, Scrum. Let me go, and save us both."

As she walked back onto the deck, Scrum grabbed at her desperately, but she was strong enough to throw him off. "Cry now." He was saying, "if you just…I mean, this is sad right? You can cry, and you can stay, we'll have your tears. Just force it, please!"

Tamara turned to him, smiling warmly, "don't do that," said Scrum, "don't do that now, please don't look at me like that. Or take me with you, we'll go! That's it, just let me go with you."

The mermaid shook her head before leaning softly into his chest, "you'll move on soon enough, my darling."

"Oh, bloody hell!" Scrum pushed her off of him, a sudden anger searing through his entire body, "don't even start with that. Like I'd forget you, you don't have my sympathy right now, so don't even start, you hear me?"

It felt as though she was being cruel, the way she smiled at him so contently, like she was being so beautiful on purpose to hurt him even more. Scrum didn't quite understand how his opinion on one person could change so erratically.

"You want to leave it like this?" She said.

"No." He picked up her hand in his own, and kissed it, "don't go."

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, more so than she had ever done before. It felt like it lasted forever, but still that wasn't long enough. Scrum made one final grab for her as she broke away, but she was too quick. There was a delicate splash from the water below, and Tamara disappeared into the black ocean. This was it; she had gone.


	16. Going Back

A longboat full of sailors floated above, coming from the anchored ship in the distance. Tamara silently brought her head up from under the water, observing the situation. There must have been twelve of them altogether, she could easily snatch up at least one. The mermaid submerged her head under the ocean once more, and flicked her tail slightly, circling the boat to get herself noticed. As she rose up, she was met with a dozen dazed faces. All of them men, young to middle-aged, all gawping, all stunned by her sheer presence. Tamara grinned at them, placing her arms gently on the edge of the longboat and hoisting herself up a little. "Good evening." She said, her haunting voice almost echoing the waves.

"My god," the closest man to her spoke. He must have been around twenty-five, and despite his lack of grooming, he had a youthful and relatively handsome face. "A mermaid," muttered another.

Ever since her capture at Whitecap Bay, Tamara had been far less interested in striking up conversations with her pray. Her target had already been chosen, and the filthy youthful man seemed the easiest. Usually she enjoyed a challenge, but tonight was not the night, she was too hungry for the tough ones.

"_As I was walking down in Stokes Bay,_

_I met a drowned sailor on the beach as he lay,_

_And as I drew nigh him, it put me to a stand,_

_When I knew it was my own true love by the marks on his hand,_

_As he was sailing from his own dear shore,_

_Where the waves and the billows so loudly do roar,"_

As she sang to him, the sailor lent towards her, the rest did too; captivated by her voice. Her target was close, and the pain had begun again. The tight, clenching feeling in her chest, and the flips in her stomach making her feel sick. But she knew she had to do it, like the others, she had to do it. They needed to be killed; it was all part of the great chain. Tamara stroked the sailors stubbly cheek as she continued to sing. The process, to her, was now vomit-inducing; but it was survival. Slowly, she began to pull his head towards her as though to kiss him. Just one would do, that would fill her for a while. Just one, no more.

"_I said to my true love, I shall see you no more,_

_So farewell, my dearest, you're the lad I adore."_

And with that, his life was over. Tamara heard the uproar of panic as she pulled him under the warm water. He himself was struggling against her, but it was no use. With every second he became weaker and weaker, but the more he struggled the more it angered her. By the time the gunshots from the surface had stopped, the poor sailor had had his chest torn open. She ate his heart first. That was her favourite part. If she ate the hearts of others, perhaps they would heal her own.

It had been five months since she had jumped from the deck of the Queen Anne's Revenge. Five months since she had left him, and not a day went by where she didn't think of him. Without him, she felt useless. Her life went on monotonously, she no longer enjoyed killing. There was no pleasure in taking human life, just necessity. But he was alive, she knew he was alive somewhere. In her own selfish way, Tamara hoped that Scrum was miserable without her too; that he would cling on to every memory of her forever. But what if he had moved on? Whenever she thought of it, she began to hate him. She hated him because she loved him so much; and she loved him because she shouldn't have. It was wrong of her, she knew that. There had been tales of mermaids who fell in love with sailors; and none of them ended well. Mermaids were meant to be cold, heartless, they wanted to destroy, to kill, to feed on the flesh of men. Tamara used to be just the same, and often she missed her old self. Every time she killed she had tried to enjoy it, but there was no more sense of adventure. The last man she had killed and enjoyed killing was the Quartermaster. He had tried to hurt her sailor.

The night of her departure, she headed for Calypso. The Goddess had expected her upon her arrival.

"You left?" She said.

"Yes," said Tamara, "they would have killed him."

"Aye, it be true," the Goddess had turned to the mermaid, "anything for your tears."

"Did I do right, Calypso? Because I don't feel I did."

"You did right for the greater good, princess. For yourself, no. But that be the point, me love. You done the selfless thing." Calypso took Tamara into her arms, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.

Tamara wanted to weep, more than anything she just wanted to cry, but she couldn't. There was nothing there, no tears, only sadness. She felt heavy, even after the five months had gone by, she still felt as though she were carrying a weight. A huge weight that would never come off.

She knew the emotion, she knew it well, but it was hard to admit to, shameful even, especially for her kind. Tamara was depressed; hating herself, everything about herself she despised. Every reflection of herself she saw made her sick. Five months was all it had taken her, and she was too weak even to cope. Going on any longer without Scrum seemed pointless. Who was there to make her laugh? Who would comfort her when she felt sad, who would accept her many flaws, and only appreciate the goodness that lay inside of her? She even missed Barbossa's crew. Though she knew what they would have done to her love given the chance, she missed them. They had flaws of their own too, just as she did.

As she swam to shore, pulling the dead sailors mutilated body behind her, Tamara chose her path. Something within her had changed; she depended on Scrum. She was in love with him. For months she had been pinpointing his every characteristic in her head; all of the bad things about him balanced with all of the good. But there was nothing she could do now; she loved him. She adored him, she needed him, she had only tried to spare his life, she had succeeded in doing so, she knew it. Tamara was dragging the limp corpse onto the beach, when the familiar West-Indian accent sounded from behind her, "brought a snack did you, princess?"

Tamara smiled weakly at her Goddess as she buttoned up the shirt she had stolen from the young, dead sailor. "How did you know I would be here?"

"You know I keep a watchful eye on you, love." Calypso smiled, approaching Tamara and taking her hand.

"You want to find him?" She asked.

"How did you know that, too?" Tamara gave Calypso a playful glare as they walked down the beach hand in hand, leaving Tamara's dead pray behind them.

"I been watchin' you, I been worryin' too. You're not happy, angel."

"I know."

"You know it never ends good, neither, with man and mermaid?"

"I know." Tamara murmured.

"And why do you think that is?"

"Because we're killers. We are born to be a certain way, as are they. We're too different to be together."

"Exactly." Calypso had her head turned to Tamara, "you know, princess, I seen a thousand generations of mermaids pass these waters, ain't never one been quite like yourself."

"I shall be outcast. It is my own fault. I tried."

"What I mean is, you _are _how a mermaid is supposed to be. You're strong, cold, you never did care about killin' a man and eating his flesh. But you have a heart, you have kindness and a light shinin' inside of you. You're me most loyal, always have been, always will be. Go to him."

"You what?"

Calypso beamed, "you been talkin' like him too. You know who you are. Ain't bein' with him has changed you. When you stayed with me, you were the same girl you always were, princess. Go to him."

"But I don't know where he _is_."

"Go now back to Whitecap Bay, angel."

"Whitecap Bay?" Tamara glanced up at her Goddess.

"Aye. They won't be givin' up on the fountain yet, all they need is another one of you."

Tamara felt her face getting hot. There was no such thing as another one of her. Surely they couldn't just pick up another mermaid, and treat her exactly as they had treated her. Were humans really like that, did they reject and recover so quickly? The mermaid stared at the goddess, the goddess looked back into the eyes of the mermaid. Both smiled, both embraced, and then Tamara turned back to her beloved ocean.

"You know," Calypso said, as Tamara paddled slowly forwards, "it never ends how you want it to."

Tamara turned her head, comfortable now with the water covering her entire body, "I know. But I can not go without never knowing."

Calypso gave a small smile, "go."

And she did.

Tamara swam, pelting through the water hardly taking time to rise to the surface. But she knew these waters like the back of her hand, they were her home.

There was no counting how long it took her, but she was there, and it was there too. The Queen Anne's Revenge. It was there, black in colour, gigantic and silent in the waters of Whitecap Bay. Tamara's heart was pounding, the evening dark was growing and soon it would be night. She waited, as all mermaids do for their pray. She waited for an hour, two hours, three, and then she saw him. Not Gibbs, not Jack, not even Scrum. But Philip. He sat, lean and handsome rowing in a longboat alone. Though it was dark and his lantern shone dimly, Tamara could see him clearly, for mermaids had been blessed with magnificent eyesight. Tamara floated for a while, just observing him as his efforts at rowing the oversized longboat decreased. The boy's handsomeness was almost sickening; his jawline was beautiful, yet masculine. He had long, sooty eyelashes which fluttered above blue eyes. His hair had grown a little again, not quite yet falling into his face. Philip was stunning. The perfect pray for a mermaid; if only he was appetising.

Philip Swift stared out onto the horizon, heavily panting, his arms numb with exhaustion. Philip hoped to himself that the storm in the distance wouldn't head for the Revenge's direction, before his mind drifted back to the others, and how he was drifting back to them empty handed once again. It had been five months since Tamara had left, and still they couldn't get hold of another mermaid. It was enough of a task to find one, and each time they did had ended in disaster. The last time they had come across one, three weeks ago was an occasion Philip would not soon forget. A beautiful young woman, with the tail of a fish perched on a rock, watching the men rowing the longboat. She smiled, giggled and flirted, and the sailors were captivated by her. There was no need for her even to sing, there was no attempt at a kiss, she just dove for them, catching Mallot up in her grasp and dragging him into the depths with her. If only Tamara hadn't left. None of them really understood it, not even Scrum. Granted he and Philip had had their differences, but for the most part they got along.

"Perhaps it's for the best. She was trying to do right by you." Philip had tried to console the broken-hearted sailor. "Think about it, what if her assumptions about Barbossa were true, that he would have harmed you?"

But Scrum didn't want to hear it. He loved her, and as far as he was concerned, she didn't want him anymore. He was a fool to think it, Philip had said, but Scrum didn't listen.

There had been a change. Scrum was no longer the happy-go-lucky man they knew. He tried his best, but he didn't seem to care about himself anymore. He drank more than he ever had done, stood on the ships deck, staring out onto the horizon scanning for a sign of her. The others thought it bizarre, that one woman could cause him to act in such a way, but it seemed that without Tamara, Scrum saw no meaning to his own life. Philip remembered her as though he had spoken with her just seconds ago. She had been beautiful, more beautiful than any other being he had seen, but there was more to her than that. Unlike the tales of mermaids he had heard, Philip found that Tamara had a heart, and a capability to love, combined with a shyness of facing emotion. She was stubborn, erratic and demanding but there could be no denial of the kindness he believed lay in her heart. Had she loved Scrum? Philip believed so.

Suddenly, the longboat jolted and began rocking slowly from side to side under the calm waves of the ocean. A flash of silver darted past him, and he turned his head this way and that, frantic, preparing the net for the creatures capture. He stood at his full height, balancing himself in the longboat as best he could, hastily dragging up the net. He looked up, and his heart seemed to stop dead in his chest. The girl staring back at him had wide-set, bright green eyes that glistened with a certain playfulness. Her hair almost glowed underneath the black ocean, a golden blonde. She was truly angelic, and he knew immediately who she was…

"Tamara?" He spoke her name gently, in utter disbelief.

The girl drifted towards him, a weak smile planted upon her face. "Philip," she replied in a haunting voice; haunting, yet beautifully phonetic.

"What are you doing here? Why are you back?" He stumbled over his words, stunned, unsure of whether it was all just a hallucination. Tamara ignored him, swimming closer to the longboat, "how is Scrum?" she asked.

A little taken aback, Philip said, "suffering."

"I must go to him"

"You left him."

"For his own good." The mermaid glared in an all-too-familiar way.

Feeling defensive, Philip retorted, gazing out at the Queen Anne's Revenge, "you don't know that."

"I do. Won't you look at me Philip? I cannot be without him. It's been terrible. I know what you are Philip, you're a good man, a man of faith. Take me to him. Please."

Tamara was right, Philip was a good man. He had removed his shirt for her to wear as he pulled her with ease from the water. She had embraced him, thanked him, but he was still shaken and uncomfortable. As they reached the Queen Anne's Revenge, Philip stared at her, "if you get back on board this ship," he told her, "that is it."

"It is what I want Philip."

The sailor studied her, he believed her. Somehow, he had always maintained a degree of trust when it came to Tamara. He took her hand, and walked her carefully up the ladder to the ships upper deck.

As she walked, her heart began pounding, like it was trying to beat its way out of her chest. She felt her face growing hot, adrenaline shot through her. Philip picked her up in his arms, hauling her onto the deck, and kept a firm grip on her when she saw their faces drop. Around fifteen crew members, some of them she recognised, some of them she didn't all turned and stared at them, with their jaws almost at the floor.

"What in the name of God is she doing here?" A voice boomed, that could only be recognised as the voice of Joshamee Gibbs. He was storming across the deck towards them, larger than Tamara had remembered him. As he came closer, Tamara saw that his face was crimson with anger, and he was looking at her with complete loathing.

Philip's grip on her tightened, "she wishes to aid the search for the Fountain of Youth."

"Made your mind up did you, you selfish whore?" Gibbs spat his words at her.

"Gibbs," Philip spoke gently, reasonably, "don't."

"Look at the creature!" Gibbs roared, "just look at her! Do you know what you've done to him?" He neared in on Tamara, who tried burying her head in Philip's chest.

"Useless and damned whore I say, you hear me? Good for nothing, damned to the depths of Hell, selfish, wh-" Gibbs stopped mid-sentence, looking away from Tamara as though noticing something. Philip spun around, Tamara still in his arms, and there stood Scrum, watching them, looking as though he were about to go into shock. "Scrum," Tamara whispered.

She felt light again, looking at him made her feel light with love, whilst heavy with lust. Utterly, completely she adored him. There was no need to ask, Philip placed her down on the ground, within a mere moment, she was running to her love.

As she flung her arms around his neck, she felt his gentle grasp over her as he lifted her from the ground and kissed her more passionately than ever before. Nothing else in the world mattered to her in that moment, she was with him, she was in love. This man, she wanted to be with him always. As they broke away from each other, he kept his hold on her, gazing up at her face. "I've missed you." She told him.

Scrum was beaming up at her, "and I've missed you." He said, and she pressed her lips back to his.


End file.
